Most pianists approach the Brahms Quintet with a degree of trepidation, for it’s a big play and there’s a lot that can go awry. Menahem Pressler must count as one of the most fearless of all musicians, for he was nearly 91 when he recorded this with the Pacifica Quartet. He puts me in mind of musicians such as Vlado Perlemuter and Mieczysław Horszowski, both of whom were still giving extraordinary concerts at a similar age. As you’d expect, this is not Brahms of driving energy, yet you are constantly aware that Pressler is a supreme chamber musician and the way he can illuminate even the most familiar passage is constantly fascinating. There’s a genuine conversation going on between string players and pianist – how different from Pollini and the Italianos in that respect. The Pacifica are superbly responsive and the first movement unfolds with a sense of epic drama.

The Andante is pretty steady – I prefer the greater lilt of Hough with the Takács. It’s the pianist who has the biggest challenge at a slow tempo and Pressler finds much incident and shading along the way, but it can be a little unstable. In the Scherzo pure speed is replaced by highly atmospheric playing, the C major theme given a ringing grandeur. After an intense slow introduction, the finale’s Allegro has a sense of play as well as strength, though the closing Presto is a little tame. But this is still a remarkable achievement.

The Pacifica launch into Schumann’s First Quartet with a sinuous beauty. Their slow movement is a highlight, given with enormous intensity – and some fabulous viola-playing from Masumi Per Rostad. The Zehetmair are a degree more flowing, yet at the same time create a more inward mood. The Scherzo is, in the new version, a tad cautious when compared to the drama of the Zehetmair and the Doric, and the same could be said of the Pacifica’s finale, which is relatively steady and very correct in all its detail; the Zehetmair are extraordinary here, combining clarity, strength, passion and an unerring technical focus.