After 2018’s Anima Sacra, the thrilling Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński stays with the world of 18th-century sacred music for its follow-up, and collaborates once more with the compelling ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro. Motets and oratorios by lesser-known Baroque composers Zelenka, Fux, Nucci and Manna form the heart of this album, and they hint at infinite riches still waiting to be discovered. Zelenka’s motet Barbara, dira effera is infused with Handelian fire and imagination, while Manna’s Laudate pueri for countertenor, choir and orchestra—one of two world premieres on this album—possesses a stately poise, Orliński’s voice switching effortlessly between clear-toned, virtuosic articulation and a dusky sensuousness. Il Pomo d’Oro provide vibrant, rhythmic colour.
- 2018
- Emöke Baráth, Artaserse & Philippe Jaroussky
- Sara Mingardo, Sandrine Piau, Magdalena Kožená, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Veronica Cangemi, Roberta Invernizzi, Patricia Petibon, Karina Gauvin, Nathalie Stutzmann & Julia Lezhneva
- Núria Rial, Juan Sancho, Capella Cracoviensis & Jan Tomasz Adamus
- Il Giardino d'Amore & Stefan Plewniak
- Franco Fagioli
- Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck, B'Rock Orchestra, Dmitry Sinkovsky, La Nuova Musica, David Bates, Magdalena Kožená & Francesca Aspromonte
- Max Emanuel Cencic, Diego Fasolis & I Barocchisti