Mendelssohn's two string quintets, using a second viola à la Mozart rather than a second cello like Schubert, are at least the equal of his string quartets, yet are much more rarely heard. The first of them in A major, Op 18, was composed in 1826 around the time of the first two string quartets, Opp 12 and 13; the second, in B flat major, Op 87, dates from 1845, two years before the Four Pieces for string quartet Op 81, which are also included on this disc.

The earlier quintet has all the energy and exuberance that you associate with early Mendelssohn, but I'm not convinced that in it, or in the other quintet, the Mandelring Quartett, with Gunter Teuffel as the extra violist, respond as instinctively as they could to that athleticism. There's something rather dogged and over-serious about their playing, as if they are looking for profundities that aren't always there. Music that should be winning and open-hearted ends up sounding just a bit too prosaic.