Three other great recordings

Amadeus Quartet, Emil Gilels (piano), Rainer Zepperitz (double bass)

This 1975 recording is a glowing testament to an all-too-easily forgotten golden age of music-making; not a single note or phrase is allowed to pass by perfunctorily, with each lovingly constructed component contributing to a perfectly judged architectural whole. The Amadeus Quartet perform with customary panache, and Gilels’s sensitivity to every nuance justifies his status as one of the greatest pianists to have lived. Berlin Philharmonic bassist Rainer Zepperitz revels in this exalted company. (DG 479 4886)

Alban Berg Quartet, Elisabeth Leonskaja (piano), Georg Hörtnagel (double bass)

This is an explosive, yet unfailingly idiomatic and elegant performance. Chamber music has been integral to Leonskaja’s musical journey, which is evident throughout this gripping performance. The brilliance of her sound, exemplary attention to detail and well-judged interplay with the ensemble dutifully serves the music. The forthright contribution of the Alban Berg Quartet is equally persuasive and the vitality

of double bassist Georg Hörtnagel’s contribution is particularly noteworthy. (Warner Classics 747 4482)

Kodály Quartet, Jen Jandó (piano), Istvan Toth (double bass) This recording provides a principled vindication of

Naxos’s mission to present priceless performances of beloved repertoire at budget-priced discs, and this

Trout enjoys a treasured place in its collection. Schubert’s masterpiece is in extremely capable hands with these Hungarian musicians, whose sophisticated vision of the music is impeccably realised in a performance that is beyond reproach in all respects: technically, musically and, especially, aesthetically. (Naxos 8.553255)

And one to avoid…

Deutsche Grammophon, historically renowned for unimpeachable artistic integrity, misses the mark in this most recent addition to its otherwise superb clutch of Trout recordings. In a star-studded cast headed by violinist Anne-sophie

Mutter, pianist Daniil Trifonov emerges victorious in a heroic but ultimately vain struggle with swashbuckling tempos that expose recurrent inconsistencies in the strings and an absence of unity or musical coherence.