Before he gained renown as a conductor and leader of the seminal Baroque vocal ensemble
Cantus Cölln,
Konrad Junghänel made his name as one of the world's foremost lutenists. This Accent Plus release, Bach, Weiss: Lute Music of the 18th Century, pairs the Johann Sebastian Bach works thought most idiomatically friendly to the lute along with a suite by Bach's friend Sylvius Leopold Weiss, generally adjudged by history as the last of the great lutenists before the instrument went into a long eclipse. Originally released as a vinyl LP in 1978, this first appeared on CD in 1994; the Accent Plus issue surfaced in 2010. Here, Konrad Junghänel plays a then newly minted lute built by Nico van der Walls, which has a rich tone and deep bass notes; his interpretations of all this music are first-class, though there are a couple of minor irregularities caused by string snaps and an awkward transition at one point.
Junghänel would eventually revisit all of this material within the context of "complete" surveys for other labels before he moved to conducting full time, but this is still a fine recital and a definitive example of
Junghänel's early playing. Those wanting a taste of
Junghänel in these composers will not be disappointed, and even though the original release was on LP, don't expect typical LP length, as the CD generously runs just short of an hour.