A veritable treasure trove of Polish song
Jakub Józef Orli ski and Micha Biel’s Farewells is a real gem, says John Allison
Farewells
Songs by T Baird, Czyz˙, Karlowicz, Ëukaszewski, Moniuszko and Szymanowski Jakub Józef Orli ski (countertenor), Micha Biel (piano)
Erato 9029626971 57:14 mins
Jakub Józef Orli ski’s new album of Polish songs – his first recorded venture away from Baroque music – takes its title from a remarkable group of Pushkin settings by Henryk Czy . Singing translations by Julian Tuwim, himself a great poet, Orli ski sounds super-engaged with words and music, and any notion the listener may have about wanting to hear such repertoire sung by a mezzo with more amplitude soon evaporates. Instead, the rare beauty of Orli ski’s countertenor makes the whole recital an unusually introspective experience – and by any standards of Polish song recitals, this is an extraordinarily wide programme, one equally shaped by the excellent pianist Micha Biel.
Originally composed for baritone, Tadeusz Baird’s Four Love Sonnets, settings of Shakespeare, are a special revelation (Baird was no stranger to English literature, his father being Scottish). Orli ski’s ethereal vocalism is ideally suited to music in which Polish modernism meets Elizabethan lute song.
Another unusual highlight is Jesie (Autumn) by Pawe ukaszewski, in which the piano does a lot of
the autumnal Four evocation; it’s a setting by Poland’s great interwar lyrical poet Maria Pawlikowskajasnorzewska, who spent the final years of her life in Manchester. Indeed, the whole album is a treasure trove of poetry, with several great writers included in the Mieczys aw Kar owicz group. In more familiar territory are four of Szymanowski’s folk-influenced Kurpian Songs, and the sequence ends with Stanis aw Moniuszko’s exhilarating Prz niczka (The Spinner), now something of a party-piece for these artists. PERFOMANCE ★★★★★ RECORDING ★★★★★
Tadeusz Baird’s Love Sonnets are a special revelation