In September 2023 the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann released his album "Sound Of The Movies". The album includes a vocal version of Rachel Portman's main theme for "The Cider House Rules", which was especially re-arranged by Rachel for the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, and put to lyrics by Gene Scheer.
The album includes “Nelle tue mani” from Gladiator, Henry Mancini’s “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Vangelis’ title song from Conquest of Paradise, among others. Great musical hits are also represented: “Maria” from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, the title song from Singin’ in the Rain and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel. And two evergreens by the American star tenor Mario Lanza: “The Loveliest Night of the Year” from The Great Caruso and “Serenade” from The Student Prince.
On the 15th of October 2023 a recording of the violin concerto "Tipping Points" will premiere on Youtube at 16:00 CET. The newly commissioned concerto, composed by Rachel Portman, was performed by solo violinist Niklas Liepe and the WDR Funkhausorchester and conducted by Erina Yashima at the Funkhaus Wallrafplatz on the 8th of September 2023.
November update: the entire concert of the WDR Funkhausorchester can be viewed here.
On saturday October 14th 2023 Rachel Portman is the special guest on the BBC 3 radio show 'Sound of Cinema', broadcast at 15:00 UTC.
In this edition of Sound of Cinema, Rachel Portman is the programme’s special guest alongside the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ben Palmer, in a concert given at the orchestra’s Salford studio foregrounding some of Rachel’s best loved film scores. Tom McKinney is in conversation with the composer and together they look back on a rich and varied career which has provided such enduring music to popular movies such as Chocolat, Belle, The Duchess, Oliver Twist, Bel Ami, The Cider House Rules, and the Academy Award-winning Emma.
Read more: Rachel Portman on BBC 3 radio show 'Sound of Cinema'
On the 28th of September 2023 Rachel Portman's original score for CNN biopic 'Julia' won the Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition at "Documentary Night" of the 44th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
'Julia' is a 2021 American documentary film directed and produced by Julie Cohen and Betsy West. The documentary chronicles the life of Julia Child, an American chef, author, and television personality.
In celebration of their 50th anniversary the Gent Film Festival created the '2x25' project, where 25 pieces of music from different composers were used to inspire 25 filmmakers to make a short film. Young filmmaker Diana Cam Van Nguyen chose Rachel Portman's "Bagatelle" (which was composed in 2015 for the 40th anniversay of the film festival) for her short film "Dancing Fruit".
"Tipping Points" is a newly commissioned concerto for violin, orchestra, and voice, and includes six new poems by poet Nick Drake, interwoven between the six movements of the work. The themes of the 25 minute work, both in the music and the poems are about the powers of nature and the confronting emotions triggered by collapsing ecosystems. They bring together the ancient and the modern. As one of the poems says: "The tipping point of the heart is when it breaks".
Commissioned by WDR Funkhausorchester Köln and Noorlands Opera, "Tipping Points" is a strong statement for the Earth and the environment this work promises to inspire and move. The concerto premieres on the 8th of September 2023 by the WDR Funkhausorchester in Cologne (Germany), and is performed by violinist Niklas Liepe together with singer Alma Naidu.
On 28th April 2023 UK violinist Esther Abrami announced the release of her second album Cinéma out 22nd September 2023 on Sony Classical. The album contains new arrangements for violin and orchestra of film and TV scores, classical music from the movies, anime hits and new compositions by Oscar-winning composers, including an orchestral suite of The Little Prince, the opera that Rachel Portman wrote in 2003.
On her debut album in 2022 Esther Abrami also included a composition by Rachel Portman, playing a suite of themes from Chocolat . In the same year she also created a podcast series "Woman in classical" which includes an interview with Rachel Portman.
Cinéma can be pre-ordered here.
Rachel Portman is featured in an episode of the documentary series "Masterclasses Mostra de Venise", named "The Sounds Of Cinema - Conversations With Rachel Portman" which is currently being broadcast on the Mezzo TV channel. The interview was recorded as part of the Venice Film Festival in 2022, and is hosted by Stéphane Lerouge.
Broadcast schedule:
- Sunday, April 23 2023 at 04:40
- Wednesday, April 26 2023 at 10:35
- Wednesday, May 3 2023 at 14:15
For more information, read here.
On behalf of the official release of "Beyond the Screen – Film Works on Piano" on 3 March 2023 a number of interviews with Rachel Portman have been published. Be sure to watch the video on ZDF as it includes a live performance of "The Cider House Rules"!
In anticipation of the new album "Beyond The Screen - Film Works On Piano", which is scheduled for release on March 3rd 2023, a number of teaser and single videos were released. Among the titles included are suites from her Academy Award-winning score for “Emma”, the Academy Award-nominated scores for “The Cider House Rules” and “Chocolat”, as well as music for “Never Let Me Go”, “One Day”, "Life Is Sweet", "The Human Stain" and “The Duchess”.
Rachel Portman is commissioned to write the score for the new television series “King Shaka”, to be produced for Showtime. The series tells the story of the Zulu Empire founder Shaka and his unlikely rise to power, uniting multiple tribes across vast stretches of southern Africa in the early 19th century to transform his power into legend.