Lautten Compagney

The Lautten Compagney ranks among Germany’s foremost ensembles committed to historically informed performance. Although its core focus lies in early music and Baroque repertoire along with the staging of period operas, the group also explores selected works from the twentieth century.

Established in East Berlin during 1984, the ensemble originated from the shared fascination with early music held by guitar students Hans-Werner Apel and Wolfgang Katschner at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler.” It began as a lute duo before expanding in both scale and instrumental range, with Katschner taking the role of principal conductor. Apel and Katschner continue to appear together from time to time under the Lautten Compagney name. The ensemble concentrates on reviving little-known or seldom-heard Baroque operas by composers including Handel, Giovanni Andrea Bontempi, Johann Adolf Hasse, and Carlo Pallavicino. Since 2004 it has appeared regularly at the Handel Festival in Halle, presenting the composer’s Rinaldo, Parnasso in Festa, and Alcina as well as Haydn’s Lo Speziale. In recital settings the group provides accompaniment for vocalists such as Simone Kermes, Dorothee Mields, Suzie LeBlanc, and Lynne Dawson. In 2012 the Lautten Compagney received the Rheingau Music Prize in recognition of its inventive programming choices.

The ensemble has released recordings on Berlin Classics, Carus, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, and Capriccio. Its 2010 album Timeless: Music by Tarquino Merula and Philip Glass earned an Echo Klassik Award. The 2018 release War & Peace 1618:1918, which features Mields, was honored with the Opus Klassik Award in 2019. That same year the group issued Circle Line, pairing works by Guillaume Dufay with pieces by Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and John Cage, among others.