Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński also breakdances, two skills showcased in Semele at Munich's Bavarian State Opera this year before it heads to New York's Metropolitan Opera next season.
He stumbled into singing in a high range during his time in an amateur choir in his native Poland when they began taking up music from the Renaissance. The collaboration and"musical intelligence" necessary to perform these works was"truly magical and extraordinary," Orliński says. François uncovered manuscripts by Italian composer Giovanni Cesare Netti during his research and on the album he spotlights an especially sumptuous scene from his opera La Filli. Besides this rare gem and others by Adam Jarzębski of Poland or Germany's Johann Caspar von Kerll — both composers whose works were largely lost — there are well-known tunes by Caccini, Frescobaldi and Monteverdi. There's also an aria by Barbara Strozzi ,"L'amante consolato.
"It was basically really taken by male composers, the whole scene... especially coming from Renaissance period, where women were not even allowed to sing in the church," Orliński added.