If music... showcases star countertenor Jakub JÃ³zef Orlinski in 17 songs and arias by three composers of the Baroque era: Purcell, Handel and Fux. Perhaps unexpectedly, he is partnered not by an ensemble of period instruments but by a pianist - his long-standing colleague Michal Biel. "On this album we have combined arias and songs that inspire and speak to us, " says Jakub JÃ³zef Orlinski. "I love thinking of albums as pages out of my diary. They are a statement of where I am as an artist." As Michal Biel, who draws on all the possibilities of a Steinway grand piano, freely admits: "If music... is not an answer to the question of how to perform these masterpieces with historical authenticity." He sees each aria or song as "a carefully considered transcription that reveals it's appeal transcending instrumentation".

Tracklist:

Oedipus, Z. 583: No. 2, Song. "Music for a While"
King Arthur, Z. 628, Act 5: The Final Masque. "Fairest Isle"
King Arthur, Z. 628, Act 3: Cold Song. "What Power Art Thou?"
Come, Ye Sons of Art Away, Z. 323: No. 5, Ritornello. "Strike the Viol"
If Music Be the Food of Love, Z. 379 (Third Version)
Pausanius, Z. 585: Song. "Sweeter Than Roses"
If Music Be the Food of Love, Z. 379 (First Version)
Bonduca, Z. 574, Act 5: Solo. "O, Lead Me"
The Tempest, Z. 631, Act 5: Recitative and Song. "Your Awful Voice"
Il fonte della salute, aperto dalla grazia nel calvario, K. 293: "Non t'amo per il ciel"
Agrippina, HWV 6, Act 2: Recitativo. "Otton, qual portentoso fulmine Ã¨ questi?" (Ottone)
Agrippina, HWV 6, Act 2: Aria. "Voi che udite" (Ottone)
Rodelinda, regina de' Longobardi, HWV 19, Act 3: Aria. "Un zeffiro spirÃ²" (Rodelinda)
Serse, HWV 40, Act 1: Largo. "Ombra mai fu" (Serse)
Rinaldo, HWV 7, Act 2: Aria. "Siam prossimi al porto" (Eustazio)
Partenope, HWV 27, Act 2: Aria. "Furibondo spira il vento" (Arsace)
Semele, HWV 58, Act 2: Aria. "Where'er You Walk" (Jupiter)
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: X. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (Arr. Hess for Piano)

UPC: 5021732985316
Label: Erato
Release Date: 5.8.26
Format: CD

Jakub Orlinski / Biel,Michal - If Music (CD)