The Cavalier daily :: Friday, April 13, 1973 :: University of Virginia Library

"Great Tenor Airs of the
Eighteenth Century." David
Cassidy, tenor. I Virtuosi di
Hollywood, Wes Farrell,
conducting; Max Morath,
harpsichord continuo.
Bell-Pepper DCSX 22098.
$4.79.

I have to admire David
Cassidy's guts for making this
record, but I can't help but
wonder if he is not being badly
advised. I realize that every
teenage idol has to find
something to do when the
supernova of his teenybopper
stardom fades away as fast as it
developed, but really, I ask
you.... "Great Tenor Airs of
the Eighteenth Century?"

I will admit that Cassidy
basically possesses a pleasant
vocal instrument that might
very well develop into a great
lyric tenor voice if, and that's a
big IF, he receives the proper
training; but, at this point in
time, he has neither the
technique nor the interpretive
expertise to do much with this
music.

He simply can't control his
voice in the runs, as becomes
painfully evident in "Every
Valley" from Handel's Messiah,
nor are his attempts at
interpretation convincing. His
reading of "Dalla sua pace"
from Mozart's Don Giovanni is
chock full of hollow and
forced emotion.

But I shouldn't be too hard
on the kid. He's branching out
into something new, only I'm
afraid that this time, unlike
The Partridge Family, he will
not be laughing all the way to
the bank.

Cassidy receives adequate
support from I Virtuosi di
Hollywood, and Wes Farrell
conducts well enough.
Morath's harpsichord playing is
quite delightful.

Buy this album. After all, if
Cassidy turns into anything of
note, in 25 years this lemon
will be worth a mint.

***

L. Frank Baum; The Wizard of
Oz. Tricia Nixon Cox, reader.
Watergate 344-7893. $11.96 +
3.4% inflation. (2 record set)

Well, it's about time that
our beloved President's family
branched out into legitimate
show business. I confess,
though, that I am a little bit
surprised that Tricia should be
the first. I thought that her
brother-in-law, David
Eisenhower, would start it off
by recording a 45 of "Casey at
the Bat."

Seriously, this set shows
that Ms. Cox has a lovely,
well-modulated voice that
lends itself very nicely to the
reading of sophisticated
children's stories like The
Wizard of Oz.

Strangely enough, Ms. Cox
is at her most convincing when
she is reading the passages
involving the Wicked Witch of
the West. Tricia puts her all
into them, and emits cackles
that are absolutely unearthly.
Ms. Cox has been well recorded
technically, and the ambiance
of the Red Room in the White
House, where the discs were
made, is most pleasant.

I particularly enjoyed the
homey touch of Eddy Cox
telling Tricia, at the end of the
reading of the book, that it's
time to come to bed.
Recommended for children of
all ages.

***

Joplin: Piano Rags. Artur
Rubinstein, piano. RCA Red
Seal LSC 11-1097. $5.79.

This record is a real
surprise. Rubinstein, a great
Chopin and Beethoven
interpreter, a specialist in
classical piano music of every
variety, at the age of 87
ventures into the land of
ragtime. He comes out in
tatters, unfortunately.

Mr. Rubinstein is simply
not equal to this music. He
does not have the correct
rhythmic sense, really, nor
does he possess the right
attitude or sense of humor.
This record is almost as
disastrous as Eubie Blake's
recent recording of selected
keyboard works by Bach.

Particularly unpleasant is
Mr. Rubinstein's reading of the

(Continued on page 3)