If Music...
Jakub Józef Orliński & Michał Biel
If Music… is a 2026 recital album on Warner Classics/Erato that pairs Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński with pianist Michał Biel in an intimate programme of Baroque songs and arias by Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel, and Johann Joseph Fux. Recorded with just voice and modern Steinway rather than a period‑instrument ensemble, the disc runs about 76 minutes and comprises 17 vocal pieces bookended by Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” in Myra Hess’s piano arrangement, which Biel plays alone. Orliński describes the album as a collection of works that have accompanied him for years but that he only felt ready to record now, treating it as a kind of artistic diary entry that “solidifies” his current interpretations.
The Purcell selections—including “Music for a While,” both first and third versions of “If Music Be the Food of Love,” “Strike the Viol,” “Sweeter Than Roses,” “O, Lead Me,” “Your Awful Voice,” and the chilling “Cold Song” (“What Power Art Thou?” from King Arthur)—showcase the duo’s ability to shape text with flexible tempo, subtle rubato, and fine‑grained colour. Handel arias such as “Ombra mai fu” (from Serse), “Un zeffiro spirò” (Rodelinda), “Siam prossimi al porto” (Rinaldo), “Furibondo spira il vento” (Partenope), and “Where’er You Walk” (Semele), along with Fux’s Italian cantata movements, extend that approach into more overtly virtuosic territory, with Orliński’s high, agile lines set against Biel’s orchestral‑sounding keyboard textures. Reviews highlight the warmth and naturalness of their decade‑long partnership, praising Biel’s inventive, text‑sensitive pianism and Orliński’s poised, expressive singing for making familiar Baroque “hits” feel newly conversational and emotionally direct, even if the use of piano instead of harpsichord strikes some purists as anachronistic.
If Music...
Jakub Józef Orliński & Michał Biel
If Music… is a 2026 recital album on Warner Classics/Erato that pairs Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński with pianist Michał Biel in an intimate programme of Baroque songs and arias by Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel, and Johann Joseph Fux. Recorded with just voice and modern Steinway rather than a period‑instrument ensemble, the disc runs about 76 minutes and comprises 17 vocal pieces bookended by Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” in Myra Hess’s piano arrangement, which Biel plays alone. Orliński describes the album as a collection of works that have accompanied him for years but that he only felt ready to record now, treating it as a kind of artistic diary entry that “solidifies” his current interpretations.
The Purcell selections—including “Music for a While,” both first and third versions of “If Music Be the Food of Love,” “Strike the Viol,” “Sweeter Than Roses,” “O, Lead Me,” “Your Awful Voice,” and the chilling “Cold Song” (“What Power Art Thou?” from King Arthur)—showcase the duo’s ability to shape text with flexible tempo, subtle rubato, and fine‑grained colour. Handel arias such as “Ombra mai fu” (from Serse), “Un zeffiro spirò” (Rodelinda), “Siam prossimi al porto” (Rinaldo), “Furibondo spira il vento” (Partenope), and “Where’er You Walk” (Semele), along with Fux’s Italian cantata movements, extend that approach into more overtly virtuosic territory, with Orliński’s high, agile lines set against Biel’s orchestral‑sounding keyboard textures. Reviews highlight the warmth and naturalness of their decade‑long partnership, praising Biel’s inventive, text‑sensitive pianism and Orliński’s poised, expressive singing for making familiar Baroque “hits” feel newly conversational and emotionally direct, even if the use of piano instead of harpsichord strikes some purists as anachronistic.