The Young Concert Artists Series began its 45th season on Tuesday night in a new home: Zankel Hall (the beautiful, brown basement at Carnegie). On the stage was the winner of YCA’s 2005 International Auditions: a string quartet, called the Jupiter. YCA’s director, Susan Wadsworth, made the point that the series began its 10th season with another string quartet (then young): the Tokyo String Quartet. So the Jupiters are in good company.

These four were making their New York debut, but they have been around. They have won several prizes, and have played in prestigious venues such as London’s Wigmore Hall. The first violinist is Nelson Lee and the second Meg Freivogel. The violist is Meg’s sister Liz, and the cellist is Daniel McDonough. They are talented, they are fresh, and they have arrived.

Speaking of young, the Jupiters began their concert with Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in A minor,Op.13 – written when the composer was 17.The first thing one noticed about the Jupiters was their very warm sound. Zankel can be an unforgiving hall – an exposed and “loud” hall – but it rewards those whose sound is exceptional. The Jupiters were so rewarded. They were amply expressive, too – brooding in the first movement without being obsessed or maudlin. Their intonation was not always perfect, and they were not always together (particularly in quicker passages). But these errors were minor. Mr. Lee showed a beautiful, thin-ribboned tone in the higher reaches of his instrument.

The slow movement featured more warmth, this one an F-major, rather than an A-minor, warmth. And the players built the movement gracefully, seamlessly. They could sense where they were in the score, and where it would go. As they played, a special tranquility descended on the hall.

The third movement – Intermezzo: Allegro con moto – had what I choose to call a sweet jauntiness. This is different from sheer sweetness, or sheer jauntiness – those qualities were combined, and the effect was winning. Remember how people used to say, “You got style”? The Jupiter String Quartet does. Mendelssohn’s final movement was full of Sturm und Drang, having its due intensity. The players were never out of control: Their passion was an intelligently governed one. They are a mature group, and no allowances need be made for them, on grounds of youth or anything else.

If they play badly, it will be simply because … they played badly.

They continued at Zankel with a work by Henri Dutilleux, who will turn 90 next year. (To Elliott Carter, however – age 97 – he’s just a kid.) This is a string quartet called “Ainsi la nuit”(“Thus the Night”), written in 1976, and in seven, basically unbroken movements. Before the Jupiters began the piece, the cellist, Mr. McDonough, had remarks to make to the audience. (He called himself “the designated spokesperson” – and that last word was as grating as anything that happened all night.) He undertook to explain the piece, asking Mr. Lee to give examples on the violin. But did Mr. Dutilleux need any explanation, this advance verbal help? I don’t think so. Besides which, Mr. McDonough talked in a most untidy way. I thought of the title of a recent book: “Shut Up and Sing.”

When the group finally did play, they did so with dedication and affection. In my judgment, this is not Mr. Dutilleux’s best work – far from it – but it is not unworthy, and the Jupiters made a case for it.

After intermission, they presented a Schubert string quartet, that in D minor, D. 810, known as the “Death and the Maiden,” after a song (of his own) that the composer uses. This quartet is, quite simply, a perfect piece of music – perfect in both craft and inspiration (which is not always true of Schubert, if I may).

The Jupiters did not let it down. They were precise, aware, and convincing. In the first movement, their tempo was faster than strictly necessary, but at least there was no dragging. This was not a profound interpretation – but the music wasn’t smothered by intellection, either. It was “merely” played. Bless these four for not overplaying.

They breathed beautifully in the slow movement, and Mr. McDonough proved that he is a much better cellist – and singer on the cello – than he is a talker. From all four, the playing of this Andante (con moto) was soulful. The next movement, the Scherzo, was equally good, with the trio section both peaceful and slightly yearning. In my view, the closing Presto should begin more hushed than the Jupiters had it – but they created the whirl of excitement that Schubert intends, and they dug into their instruments with infectious glee. This is obviously a group that enjoys playing, and enjoys playing with one another, and sets itself high standards.

The judges of those International Auditions could have done worse.

In pre-concert remarks to the audience, Mrs. Wadsworth revealed something interesting about the costs of concerts these days. If you wonder why ticket prices are so high, or why presenters feel they need to fill the house to be a success, you might want to think about union funniness. As Mrs. Wadsworth was speaking, a man in the audience yelled out, “Use a microphone!” She replied, “No: I’m saving Young Concert Artists $3,000 by not having a microphone tonight.”

Three grand for a lousy microphone – and a suited union member to carry it on and off the stage? Tells you something.