From opera to breakdancing and back again: Jakub Józef Orliński fuses two worlds

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/16/ [login to see] /from-opera-to-breakdancing-and-back-again-jakub-jozef-orli-ski-fuses-two-worlds
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.