What a great disc!
I'm guessing this will sell out quickly. I have my copy ordered.
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| INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGH https://intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3733 |
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| Author: | Roger Feigelson [ Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGH |
INTRADA Announces: A RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT Composed and Conducted by LAURENCE ROSENTHAL INTRADA Special Collection Volume 148 The early '60s saw the emergence of one of Hollywood's most talented, yet underrated film composers. This release in the Intrada Special Collection highlights two of the early dramatic works from composer Laurence Rosenthal. The first is the complete score to the 1961 Columbia film A Raisin in the Sun. Laurence Rosenthal gave the story a lyrical main theme with ascending phrases and stylistic gestures drawn from Negro spirituals. While this theme bookends the film, for most of the film Walter (Sidney Poitier) receives an agitated four-note motif—heard first in a jazz setting, but also darkening the orchestra in later cues, where it intercepts the main theme. Angular and modern, Walter’s music clashes with that of his formidable mother, whose opening soliloquy introduces a third theme: a gentle, empathic melody, most often conveying wisdom and solace…but which Rosenthal twists into anguish for moments of despair and disappointment. The films focuses on Walter Younger, a chauffeur with frustrated business ambitions; his long suffering wife Ruth (Ruby Dee), who aches to quit their rat-hole apartment; his firebrand sister Beneatha (Diana Sands), who plans to become a doctor; and his iron-willed mother Lena (Claudia McNeil), who prays for a better life for the family. The family’s destiny ultimately hinges on a single choice: to accept a buyout from the racist “welcoming committee” who does not want them to move into their neighborhood or to assert their dignity and gamble on the dream of a fresh start. Rosenthal’s jazz-rooted score for the 1962 Columbia film Requiem for a Heavyweight highlights mixed-meter writing and close-spaced harmonies, tapping into New York’s grimy underbelly with rumbling piano, percussion, stinging brass and solo reeds. The main theme, with its bluesy rhythms and rising lines, is essentially major, but is constrained in the “Main Title” by dissonant minor chords and the “fight bell” clang of pounding chimes. It conveys both the swagger of a man who knows he was “almost heavyweight champion of the world,” and the existential tragedy of a man awakening to the terrible realization that he has somehow died—yet must go on living. Balancing the darkness is Rosenthal’s charming waltz theme, for his blossoming, tender relationship with Grace. The Rod Serling tale starts with Mountain learning that his 17-year boxing career has been ended by too many tissue-damaging blows to the head. This spells doom for his manager Maish, who has lost everything—and then some—to the crime boss “Ma” Greeny. Desperate, Maish hatches a self-serving plan to reinvent Mountain as a costumed wrestler … a clownish mockery of his former self. Both scores are presented in pristine mono from the composer's own personal copies of the score, which is all that remains of these two early Rosenthal classics. While REQUIEM is a brief score, not all of it has survived, but this 14-minute suite captures nearly all of the main set pieces from the film, and features a similar, but alternate version of the main title. This release is limited to 1500 units. INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 148 Retail Price: $19.99 AVAILABLE NOW For track listing and sound samples, please visit http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.6805/.f |
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| Author: | WorkingWithKnives [ Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:08 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYW |
What a great disc! I'm guessing this will sell out quickly. I have my copy ordered. |
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| Author: | SchiffyM [ Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYW |
I said I wasn't going to buy any more CDs this month. But this is too good to pass up. These may be my two favorite Rosenthal scores, on one CD! (But why choose?) |
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| Author: | Swashbuckler [ Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:16 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYW |
Phenomenal long-awaited release! I hope this lasts at least until Thursday! |
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| Author: | niall [ Mon Oct 25, 2010 6:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYW |
Thanks everybody at Intrada, this is a wonderful release. Ordered of course! 
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| Author: | haineshisway [ Mon Oct 25, 2010 6:54 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYW |
THIS is a GREAT release! Congrats to Doug and company - I've been begging them to get to this for years, and now we have it. |
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| Author: | Alan [ Tue Oct 26, 2010 12:22 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYW |
I should have guessed that. I remember reading (ages ago) Doug saying that Raisin In The Sun was one of his all time favorite scores. |
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| Author: | Douglass Fake [ Tue Oct 26, 2010 5:39 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYW |
| Author: | John Takis [ Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:54 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYW |
I've listened to more and more Rosenthal since I began writing notes for his scores, and what consistently stands out for me is just how smart his music is! His themes cut straight to the core of the characters and situations, in ways that are well thought-out and arranged to perfection. The main title for "Requiem" IS Mountain Rivera -- his pride, his pain, his tragic honor ... all right there, in the music. In "Raisin," Walter Younger's angular motif is a precise expression of his state of mind -- agitated, obsessive, and increasingly fraught. It's such intelligent writing ... and then you take that fine craftsmanship and pair it with a composer who can also write from the heart, with great passion and emotion. It's beautiful, and gut-wrenching, and magic. |
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| Author: | WorkingWithKnives [ Sat Oct 30, 2010 12:12 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYW |
Holding in my left hand as I type with my right and delivered just moments ago, an unopened package from Intrada containing Laurence Rosenthal's A Raisin In The Sun/Requiem For A Heavyweight. Opening it right now... Beautiful!
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| Author: | Gary S. [ Thu Nov 04, 2010 5:21 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYW |
I started listening to this earlier today. This just reminds me all over again why Rosenthal is one of my favorite composers. |
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| Author: | Swashbuckler [ Fri Dec 03, 2010 7:46 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: INTRADA Announces RAISIN IN THE SUN/REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYW |
Requiem for a Heavyweight is very nice, but Raisin In the Sun is a total knockout!!! Great jazz licks and beautiful string writing. Hearing it sounding so clear on this disc, I think it may be my favorite Rosenthal score. |
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