Having completed their traversal of Mozart’s string quartets, then recently issued an insightful coupling of piano quintets by Franck and Martin (7/23), the Armida Quartet now join clarinettist Kilian Herold in this revealing and rewarding juxtaposition of quintets by teacher and pupil.

Good to see that Reger’s Clarinet Quintet (1915) is continuing to expand its discography. Herold and the Armida maintain a sure though flexible hold on the opening Moderato, ensuring that its amabile element never becomes cloying. The Vivace is realised with a keen sense of its blithe humour and the lilting poise of its Trio, then the Largo evinces a ruminative eloquence whose more equivocal and ominous passages are drawn into a seamless and affecting whole. The variations of the final Allegretto unfold with due attention to their distinct characters as these head to a resigned yet fulfilled close. Excellent as was that by Robert Oberaigner with the Fritz Busch Quartet, this latest version can rank alongside it as the finest recent account.

Interest inevitably centres on the Clarinet Quintet (1950) by Johanna Senfter (1879-1961), a pupil of Reger. The opening movement pursues a methodical though unpredictable interplay between its lively and ruminative themes, then the central Langsam breathes a recognisably autumnal fatalism intensified by anguished regret, qualities the finale seeks to dispel with its incisive wit and searching lyricism en route to a resolute close. Masterfully realised, this is a welcome addition to a still-limited repertoire, and one hopes that more of Senfter’s work will be recorded; her music for viola and piano was recently issued on Hänssler and makes a worthwhile next port-of-call.

Both readings receive immediate while not too up-front sound that renders clarinet and strings at a mutually advantageous perspective. Almut Ochsmann’s note says little about the music but offers salient information about the Reger-Senfter association that is certainly of interest.