Life
Konrad Junghänel was born on 27 February 1953 and is a German lutenist and conductor working in historically informed performance. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and has performed internationally as a soloist and with ensembles including Les Arts Florissants, La Petite Bande, and Musica Antiqua Köln. Particularly known for his lute recitals of Bach and Sylvius Leopold Weiss, he received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in 1985 for a solo Weiss recording. In 1987 he founded the vocal ensemble Cantus Cölln, which he still directs, and since 1994 has been professor at the Hochschule für Musik Köln, while also conducting opera at houses including Cologne Opera and the Komische Oper Berlin.
Impact
Konrad Junghänel’s acclaimed solo recordings of Bach’s and Weiss’s lute works helped define German-school Baroque lute performance in the 1980s and 1990s, earning major critical prizes. Beyond his solo career, founding Cantus Cölln extended historically informed practice into vocal and choral repertoire, and his professorship in Cologne has trained lutenists and continuo players.
Repertoire
Sarabande, Lute Suite in C minor, BWV 997 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Konrad Junghänel – J. S. Bach’s Sarabanda in C Minor, BWV 997
Lute Suites (selections) by Sylvius Leopold Weiss
Silvius Leopold Weiss (1686-1750) – Lute Suites (Konrad Junghänel)
Lute Suites (selections) by Esaias Reusner
Esaias Reusner: Lute Suites (Junghänel)