Monica Huggett leads for Nos 1, 3 and 5, Pavlo Beznosiuk for the others. The democratic exchange of places doesn’t alter the character of the quartet; it is of musicians who collectively offer a re-creative process that goes beyond the printed page in ways that are not easy to describe. An initial example is the third movement of No 6, the Scherzo section marked ff toujours. The Melos Quartet, who, 27 years ago, created a stir with probably the first integral recording of these works (DG, 8/76 – nla), take the direction at face value. They thrust forward in zealously forceful concert. The Quartetto David are less unremitting but they don’t quite convey dolce con espressione at the beginning of the Trio. Nor do they make much of the change to Larghetto, 22 bars before the return of the Scherzo. Hausmusik London, on period instruments, play fortissimo, as required, but they also introduce a degree of expressive elasticity, avoiding relentless stridency yet retaining the continuous steely edge that Cherubini intended. And they are faithful to all the subsequent contrasts he wanted too, as they are to the contrasts in the slow movement of No 1. This Larghetto sans lenteur, a theme and four variations, strikes a sympathetic chord with all three groups, but Hausmusik are finer at conveying the sense of fantasy in the first and evoking a hushed withdrawn intensity in the third. These are pointers to their methods of performance.

Throughout the discs – well balanced and tonally truthful, though, ‘untruthfully’, the four players occupy the whole sound stage – the impression is of artists who run the gamut of emotions without resorting to overblown projection, of the sort that many quartets now have to adopt because they are so often compelled to appear in big halls. Even in strenuous passages Hausmusik’s timbres are lucid and textures transparent, both illustrated in the opening movement of No 2. The introductory Lento finds the Melos so closely-knit they appear to be moving in a circumscribed block; and despite the excellence of the playing, there is a regimental feel to their approach that extends to the succeeding Allegro. The Quartetto David are accommodating but it is Hausmusik who offer a perceptive perspective. Their rhythms are not rigid, a free-flowing pulse allows phrases to expand and contract according to their individual shapes, accents are graded to allow for maximum inflection, and the music isn’t hustled. As always, there is a suggestion of space whatever the tempo.

It’s not all perfect, though. There are odd moments when Hausmusik allow the line to go a little slack and the tension to sag, flaws that never occur with the technically brilliant but somewhat dispassionate Melos. The Quartetto David are disciplined, too, yet seize opportunities for closer involvement; but it is Hausmusik who give all, passionately committed to explore and expose a multiplicity of invention in these compositions that the other ensembles don’t always discern.