Rachel Portman visits Kurt to talk about what’s in the background — how scenery, scoring, and props change the art around us.

Portman has composed music for dozens of films including Cider House Rules, Chocolat, The Joy Luck Club, and Jonathan Demme’s Manchurian Candidate.Her newest score is for Roman Polanski’s Oliver Twist, which opens at the end of the month. She won an academy award for her score for Emma, the 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel. Her new opera based on Antoine de Saint Exupery’s famous children’s book, The Little Prince, will be performed by the New York City Opera this November.