Konrad Junghänel

Germany's Konrad Junghänel regards the lute as his chief instrument, through which he first attracted notice via a rare blend of technical brilliance and command over interpretive nuance and decorative finesse. His lute programs, built chiefly around the German Baroque pillars represented by Silvius Leopold Weiss—whose entire output he has documented on disc to widespread critical praise and awards—and J.S. Bach, encompass roughly one hundred compositions. In addition he has appeared as soloist or continuo player on assorted plucked strings, among them the theorbo, alongside leading period ensembles such as La Petite Bande, Les Arts Florissants, and Cologne’s own Musica Antiqua Köln. What sets Junghänel apart is his uncommon transition from lute to the podium. In 1987 he established Cantus Cölln, through which he has concentrated on overlooked vocal works from the High Baroque; the ensemble’s 2002 account of Telemann’s youthful funeral cantata Trauer Actus earned particular distinction, and he remains among the select conductors who have examined Buxtehude’s charged and exploratory choral output. Within Germany he ranks among the foremost exponents of the one-voice-per-part approach to Baroque choral repertoire first advanced by Joshua Rifkin, an interpretive stance reflected in his Harmonia Mundi recording of Bach’s Mass in B minor, BWV 232. He has also taken up the baton in the growing domain of Baroque opera, leading the innovative Herbert Wernicke staging Was liegt die Stadt so wüste, drawn from Schütz, as well as explicitly theatrical scores such as Cavalli’s La Calisto. Since 1994 he has taught at the State University for Music in Cologne.