Lone voices - the lute
The oud in my life is joined today by a lute. This instrument has already featured here many times but in this article I want to share with readers two outstanding super-low priced recitals of early music by a master lutenist. Paul O'Dette was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1954 and after dabbling with the electric guitar at high school went on to establish himself as one of the leading players and teachers of the lute. He has made more than one hundred recordings both as soloist as an ensemble member with musicians such as Jordi Savall and Nikolaus Harnoncourt and among O'Dette's many fine solo recordings are the complete lute works of John Dowland. In 2001 Harmonia Mundi reissued several of his CDs at super-budget price. They are still in the catalogue and are quite unmissable both for students of the lute and for readers who want an affordable introduction to this most intimate of instruments. The titles of the two recommended discs on which the lute is the lone voice a