Rachel Portman: Tipping Points, Vivaldi/Kerschek: The New Four Seasons

Featuring

Niklas Liepe
Erina Yashima
Patrick Lange
WDR Funkhausorchester
Rachel Portman
Wolf Kerschek

Did you know?

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Performer Biography

Wolf Kerschek, who arranged 'The New Four Seasons', holds world records for leading the largest orchestra (2016) and rock band (2019).

Composer's Artistic Vision

The project 'Tipping Points' by Rachel Portman, Niklas Liepe, and Nick Drake was conceived as a response to the climate emergency, aiming to acknowledge its realities while seeking hope and imaginative agency through poetry and music.

Recording & Production

The WDR Funkhausorchester, featured on this album, is known for crossing boundaries between musical genres, including operetta, light music, and film or gaming music.

Compositional Technique

Wolf Kerschek's 'The New Four Seasons' is a 'cinematic' version of Vivaldi's work, based on Vivaldi's original sonnets, but incorporating a broader emotional palette influenced by modern music and Kerschek's childhood memories.

Performer Biography

Niklas Liepe, the violinist on this album, received an Opus Klassik Award in 2021 for his second album, a new arrangement of Bach's 'Goldberg Variations' for violin and orchestra.

Composer Biography

Rachel Portman, a British composer, was the first woman to win an Academy Award for film score for 'Emma' (1996) and has received two further Academy Nominations.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The poems for 'Tipping Points', written by Nick Drake, offer juxtapositions such as grief and agency, fear and wonder, and destruction and beauty, to encourage listeners to consider how to make change happen.