Paul Neubauer (viola), Emerson String QuartetDeutsche Grammophon 477 8765 (3 CDs for the price of 2) ***

Dvorak's AmericanQuartet of 1893 dominates his output of quartets in popular affection the same way the New Worlddoes his symphonies. The Emerson Quartet recorded the AmericanQuartet in 1984, and their new set of "favourite Dvorak" extends to four quartets (Opp 51 in E flat, 61 in C, 105 in A flat and 106 in G) plus the String Quintet in E flat and the song arrangements of Cypresses. Some of Dvorak's early quartets are so experimental and long (70 minutes in one case) that most ensembles give them a miss. The Emerson's style is highly polished and the players are always at great pains to bring inner and subsidiary parts to the fore. The close and sometimes synthetic-sounding recording can at times seem a little claustrophobic, and much of the music needs a degree of relaxation, even geniality, that the Emerson's don't always manage to provide. See url.ie/57as