(Reuters) – Polish opera star Jakub Jozef Orlinski’s first performance at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in “Eurydice” in November was broadcast live in theaters around the world on Saturday.
Orlinski, 30, who studied and lived in Manhattan while attending the Juilliard School for the arts, said being in the city as an artist was a new experience.
“I was totally focused on school. I thought, ‘I’m in school, it’s Juilliard, I have to make the most of it.’ So I signed up for so many classes that I worked from 8 a.m. to midnight. Non-stop, â€he said.
“It is beyond my wildest dreams, the fact that I am in fact employed by such an incredible theater… and that I work with the conductor Yannick (Nézet-Séguin), who is the musical director in chief, “Orlinski added. “It’s something incredible. It’s amazing that I have my own Metropolitan Opera entrance pass now.
Orlinski is almost as well known for his breakdancing, which he started at the age of 18, as for his singing.
“It really combines everything I like. So the music, the freedom and like a kind of acrobatic style… that’s another way of expressing yourself, â€he said.
(Reporting by Alicia Powell; Editing by Diane Craft and Peter Cooney)
