Tipping Points is a newly commissioned concerto by Rachel Portman for violin, orchestra, and voice. Six new poems by poet Nick Drake are interwoven between the six movements of the work, which will be premiered by WDR Funkhausorchester (Köln) and violinist Niklas Liepe on 8th September. A further performance will take place at Beethoven Festival Bonn on 9th September.
The themes of the 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.
Concerts also include the World Premiere performances of arrangements made especially for the evening for Niklas Liepe of Portman's existing music Flight, Leaves and Trees and On my Planet from her much-acclaimed opera The Little Prince.
