From opera to breakdancing and back again: Jakub Józef Orliński fuses two worlds
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Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński also breakdances, two skills showcased in Semele at Munich's Bavarian State Opera this year before it heads to New York's Metropolitan Opera next season.Monika Rittershaus / Bavarian State Opera -
Orliński's new album, Beyond, with Il Pomo d'Oro orchestra, features 10 world premiere recordings of 17th century early Baroque music.Honorata Karapuda / Warner Classics and Erato -
Orliński says he's "not trying to change the world of opera" but does work that "will defend itself" through its authenticity.Warner Classics and Erato
A breakdancing opera singer may sound like one of the most incongruous things out there. But not for Jakub Józef Orliński.
"Not to brag, I might be the only one," the Polish countertenor told NPR's Leila Fadel in an interview with Morning Edition.
Orliński sings in a falsetto voice that's in the highest range possible for a man, close to a female mezzo-soprano or contralto. Most of the repertoire he sings is from the Baroque period.
His latest album, Beyond, with il Pomo d'oro orchestra, features arias from the earlier part of that era in the 17th century, as it overlapped with the end of the Renaissance in Europe. Ten of the tracks are world-premiere recordings, despite the music being composed hundreds of years ago.
"Composers of that time, really, they could capture the emotions in a very pure and authentic way... Love or hate, anger, frustration, there's so much to show through this music," Orliński says. "It sometimes seems like it's very complex and complicated and really kind of structured in a way that nobody understands it. But actually, it's quite simple. You have to know, of course, a lot of rules to be able to perform such music, but you don't need to know all of those rules to receive it."
All it takes, Orliński says, is to listen with open arms.
He stumbled into singing in a high range during his time in an amateur choir in his native Poland when they began taking up music from the Renaissance. The collaboration and "musical intelligence" necessary to perform these works was "truly magical and extraordinary," Orliński says.
As a teen, he would listen to the punk rock bank The Offspring. But he also enjoyed pieces by 16th century composers Thomas Tallis or Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
"I could sense or I could feel something that I could not find in the pieces that I was listening by Britney Spears or Destiny's Child," he explains.
At the same time, Orliński was a skater kid who also did capoeira, freestyle skiing and snowboarding and played tennis. When he started breakdancing in his late teens, it was "an enlightenment," he says. "It combined acrobatics, it combined music and personal expression, so it's an art form."
Recently, he's showed off both skills on stage. For his role as prince Athamas in Handel's Semele at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in July, he sang but also did handstands and spins. Claus Guth's production is set to get its New York premiere during the 2024-25 season at the Metropolitan Opera.
It all works because Baroque music can be very dancy.
"When I'm listening to it, I'm vibing, I'm really vibing and you want to boom, go and dance," Orliński says. "When I'm in my practice sessions with my breakdance crew, sometimes I put some classical instrumental music and I invite them to actually explore that because music dictates movement. And if you listen to hardcore rap, it dictates a completely different style of movement and it inspires you to do different things. When you listen to house music, it is very jumpy, very energetic in a way that you do completely different things."
Musicologist Yannis François, a frequent collaborator who is himself a bass-baritone singer, helped conceive the album, which at times has the feel of a concert thanks to improvised transitions and a deliberate succession of certain keys or musical themes.
François uncovered manuscripts by Italian composer Giovanni Cesare Netti (1649–1686) during his research and on the album he spotlights an especially sumptuous scene from his opera La Filli. Besides this rare gem and others by Adam Jarzębski of Poland (c.1590–1649) or Germany's Johann Caspar von Kerll (1627–1693) — both composers whose works were largely lost — there are well-known tunes by Caccini, Frescobaldi and Monteverdi. There's also an aria by Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677), "L'amante consolato."
"It has different colors, different shapes and different tempi in it, which I find really fascinating," Orliński says.
Strozzi was one of only a few women from that period to publish their own compositions. Even more unusual is the fact that she did so without the backing of the Church or a wealthy supporter.
"It was basically really taken by male composers, the whole scene... especially coming from Renaissance period, where women were not even allowed to sing in the church," Orliński adds.
Despite his innovative approach, Orliński insists that he's "not trying to change the world of opera," one whose audience and fundraising can sometimes lag.
"Some people, some institutions really try to sell opera as something cool. And it's not cool when you try to make something cool. It's cool when you really do your thing and you are trying to interest people in what you are doing," he says.
"If you as an artist, as a producer or a director of an institution, you strongly believe in what you do, it will defend itself."
The radio broadcast version of this story was produced by Barry Gordemer. The digital version of this story was edited by Treye Green.
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Transcript
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Jakub Jozef Orlinski sings music that's hundreds of years old.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AMARILLI, MIA BELLA")
JAKUB JOZEF ORLINSKI: (Singing in non-English language).
FADEL: But when you hear old Renaissance arias like these, you might not think of break dancing. Orlinski sometimes does both, twirling in the air one moment and singing in the highest range possible for a man as a countertenor in the next. His range is close to that of a female mezzo-soprano. His new album, "Beyond," with il Pomo d'oro Orchestra, is out now and features 10 world-premiere recordings of early Baroque music from the 17th century.
ORLINSKI: I think that composers of that time really could capture emotions in a very pure and authentic way - like, love or hate, anger, frustration. And, like, there is so much to show through this music, which is quite simple. And you have to know, of course, a lot of rules to be able to perform such music, but you don't need to know all of those rules to receive it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MISERO CORE")
ORLINSKI: (Singing in non-English language).
FADEL: What drew you to opera? What attracted you to opera in the first place?
ORLINSKI: I think I found purity and the spirituality in it. As a teenager, I was listening to, for example, Offspring. It's, like, this kind of indie-pop rock band.
FADEL: Right. Very different.
ORLINSKI: Very different. Like, it was very kind of rebellious, I would say. And, you know - and I was doing a lot of those extreme sports like skateboarding, rollerblading. I did skiing with all the tricks - acrobatics.
FADEL: Wow.
ORLINSKI: But at the same time, I was listening to Tomas Luis de Victoria, to Thomas Tallis, to Palestrina, like, all of those...
FADEL: Wow.
ORLINSKI: ...Renaissance great masters. And I could feel something that I could not find in Britney Spears or Destiny's Child. Like...
FADEL: Yeah.
ORLINSKI: ...You know, it's - this is something completely different.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "VOGLIO DI VITA USCIR")
ORLINSKI: (Singing in non-English language).
FADEL: You're a countertenor, which means you sing in the highest range possible for a man. How did you end up singing in this style?
ORLINSKI: Yeah. I did start as a boy alto before, you know, like, my voice changed. And for a brief moment we were singing medieval chants with my ensemble, but then we decided to move on to Renaissance pieces, and we needed the higher male voices. And we kind of made a lottery with the ensemble. And me and my friend Pyotr (ph) - we were the youngest ones, and we lost that lottery. But at the same time, very quickly on, I noticed that, like, I actually won because I right away knew that this is the voice which is my voice. It's very honest, very organic and very natural to me. And it's not something fake because, you know, the word falsetto means a fake voice, basically. So that's why I think with this voice type, I can show what I actually feel and what I want to say to the public.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UDITE, LAGRIMOSI SPIRTI D'AVERNO")
ORLINSKI: (Singing in non-English language).
FADEL: Which came first, opera or break dancing?
ORLINSKI: They both developed as - like, sort of in the same time in the meaning that - like, I started break dancing when I was 18 years old, so pretty late. But I love moving. I love movement, and I love extreme sports in all sorts of shapes. But once I found break dancing, breaking was, like, an enlightenment. It combined acrobatics. It combined music.
FADEL: Yeah.
ORLINSKI: And I really felt like this is something that I should have done for all of those years because it is what I was looking for.
FADEL: Break dancing and opera - I think most people wouldn't think, oh, yeah, those two things really go together, but you've combined them. On stage in one second, you're holding yourself in the air with just one hand on the floor, and the next you're singing in this virtuosic high voice. I mean, how did you do that?
ORLINSKI: Magic, you know? This is magic. No, the thing is that, like, it is very difficult. Breaking really involves a lot of muscles that have to be really flexed, and then it's difficult to relax them. And for singing, you need those muscles to be relaxed and to be sort of responsive very quickly to what you are doing, for example, those handstandy things. Sometimes you really have to be flexed, and that means holding the air. And if you hold the air, it's not great for singing. So you have to try it out, and then you know, this is possible; this is not possible.
(SOUNDBITE OF BARBARA STROZZI SONG, "L'AMANTE CONSOLATO")
FADEL: There is only one piece on the album that's by a woman composer, Barbara Strozzi.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "L'AMANTE CONSOLATO")
ORLINSKI: (Singing in non-English language).
FADEL: What made you choose this piece?
ORLINSKI: There were not so many female composers at that time, and that's why, like, I really wanted to show something which would fit to the idea of the album and also show a female composer. This composition is very energetic, and actually, it has this vibe of, like, you want to move. It has different colors, different shapes, which I find really fascinating.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "L'AMANTE CONSOLATO")
ORLINSKI: (Singing in non-English language).
FADEL: Opera is having a bit of an issue when it comes to audience and fundraising. And as a young person with this enthusiasm for opera, what do you think the solution is? What are you bringing to the opera that might change the narrative about it?
ORLINSKI: This is the problem. Some people, some institutions, really try to sell opera as something cool, and it's not cool when you try to make something cool. It's cool when you really do your thing. But you don't sell it because sometimes - I don't know if I can use that word, but it's lame.
FADEL: It's lame.
ORLINSKI: So if you strongly believe in what you do, it will defend itself because I've had so many cases of my friends who probably have never listened to a full opera, and I invited them for a concert and they were, like, wow.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SE NUNZIA FEDEL CON TROMBA SONANTE")
ORLINSKI: (Singing in non-English language).
FADEL: That's Jakub Jozef Orlinksi. His new album, "Beyond," with il Pomo d'oro Orchestra is out now. Thank you so much.
ORLINSKI: Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SE NUNZIA FEDEL CON TROMBA SONANTE")
ORLINSKI: (Singing in non-English language). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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