This is the first volume in veteran lutenist Nigel North’s traversal for Naxos of the complete works for solo lute by John Dowland. If the skilful programming and quality of playing are indicative of future volumes, I hope they won’t be long in coming. Yes, there have been other excellent complete recordings of Dowland’s lute works; sadly, though, many are no longer in the catalogue – which makes this latest enterprise all the more important. That North plays (on two lutes, an eight-course and nine-course) with such charm and a real sense of fantasy is an added bonus.

He has organised his programme into alternating groups of dancelike pieces, often bearing the dedicatee’s name, and free-form works of an often profound nature, including the seven superb Fantasies. The resultant light and shade, the changing moods and the robustness of much of the writing is perfectly mirrored in North’s own deployment of tone, ornamentation and shifting emphases. Listen to the meditative quality brought to A Dream or the beautiful Farewell In nomine from the Fantasies, the wry rhythmic inflections in Mrs Winter’s Jump and the willingness to linger on an idea in the poignant final work on the disc, Farewell.

Perhaps the playing isn’t as flashy or fluent as the brilliant Hopkinson Smith or Paul O’Dette – but that has nothing to do with any technical shortcomings. North is chasing something different here and refuses to underestimate even the slightest of pieces. This is mature playing of real depth.