The passing years have not slowed O’Dette’s fingers, still those of ‘the fastest lute in the west’, quick on the draw when the occasion calls for it. What they have done is to bring a new dimension of contemplation and expressivity to his playing; he was always a keenly analytical musician, now he is also a deeply feeling one. His galliards have always been more per toccare than per ballare and most of those here remain so, but the pavans in this programme proceed at a more stately pace than with Lindberg and, in the case of Semper Dowland, than his own previous recording – 7‘23‘ versus 5'35'' (Lindberg 6'49''). Of the two variants of P13, Lindberg chooses the strangely titled Resolution, whilst O’Dette takes much longer to say ‘Adew’ to ‘Master Cromwell’, and to complete his pilgrimage to Walsingham. Was Tarletones riserrectione meant to be a sombre or a more cheerful celebration thereof? O’Dette provides a unique opportunity for you to make up your own mind, first playing it slowly and with ornamented repeats, then faster and with more joyous embellishment. Old listening habits favour the former, but the latter now sounds no less convincing.
Diana Poulton advocated the use of expressive but controlled rubato; O’Dette was not her student but she would have been delighted by the natural suppleness with which he shapes his phrases. I incline increasingly to O’Dette’s ongoing “Complete Dowland” (if you buy only one disc, this is perhaps the one to pick), the product of an all-conquering technique and a deeply sensitive musical mind, but I still recommend possession of both his and Lindberg’s.'