Robert Simpson disagreed with the writers who believed that Beethoven’s backward glances to Haydn and Mozart in his Op 18 set were so obvious as to distract attention from his own individuality. The Takács disagree, too. They concede the tradition from which it all stems but make the glances far from obvious. From the beginning this is Beethoven through and through.

The opening bars of Quartet No 1 are soft but terse. The answering calls are conciliatory but the suspense is palpable. And you get what you expect – a trenchant Allegro con brio, every sforzando used to raise the tension, especially in the development. There are no concessions to surface beauty, and the message isn’t subdued.

The Takács are particular about dynamics. The fortissimo chord five bars before the end of the slow movement is startling and the build up from pianissimo is as impressive as the drop back to the end. The Adagio, though directed to be both impassioned and tender, is biased towards fervency while fine inflections to the line ensure that the fairly swift tempo chosen doesn’t appear hurried. Conversely, the Adagio ma non troppo of No 6 is compassionately slow but continuously mobile because these musicians don’t overlay textures with fatty tissue.

Violin tone is ‘rosiny’ rather than grainy. The cello is fuller; so is the viola but it sometimes loses focus. Roger Tapping sits on the right, opposite Edward Dusinberre, but the definition expected of such a placement is not consistent, as for example between 1'05"-1'12" and 4'39"-4'54" of this movement where Beethoven instructs the violist to play ben marcato. The figurations are audible but are a touch woolly. Still, collective rhythm is never flabby and, despite wide separation, ensemble is always close-knit.

Just how close may be heard in the Scherzi that are tight and cohesive. That of No 4 has, in addition, precise give and take between the contrapuntal lines. The Takács play them in a way that leads the ear onwards without ignoring the expressive demands of the unusual marking Andante scherzoso quasi Allegretto. The Lindsays are also sensitive to the right balance required here. But they are less tangy in attack and are generally rounder in sonority. They tend to paint Beethoven in darker hues. The reins are not stretched to maximum, but not slack, either; just different, and their interpretations are valid complements to those of the Takács. Try to have both.