Edmundo Rivero

Leonel Edmundo Rivero was born on 8 June 1911 in Valentín Alsina, in the southern suburbs of Buenos Aires.^[26][27][29] His parents, Aníbal and Anselma, fostered an early interest in music; he grew up in Saavedra and spent his adolescence in Belgrano.^[26][27] A maternal great-grandfather named Lionel, a British immigrant who had been wounded by a spear in conflicts with Pampas tribes, is said to have left him both his blond hair and the first name Leonel; the name Edmundo came from his mother’s reading of Dumas’s *The Count of Monte Cristo*.^[29][30] He began studying singing at the National Conservatory and later took up the guitar.^[26][27]

Rivero’s first public appearances included a duo with his sister Eva on Radio Cultura, where he was subsequently hired to accompany visiting artists.^[26][27] An unexpected substitution on Radio Splendid marked his debut as a singer.^[26] He worked with the orchestras of José De Caro (including carnival balls at the Teatro Pueyrredón in Flores), Emilio Orlando and, in the early 1940s, Humberto Canaro.^[26][27][31] Between 1944 and 1947 he sang with Horacio Salgán’s orchestra, although no commercial recordings resulted; impresarios of the time found both Salgán’s advanced conception and Rivero’s unusual bass range difficult to market.^[26][27]

The turning point came when Aníbal Troilo invited Rivero to replace Alberto Marino.^[26][27] During approximately three years with Troilo (roughly 1947–1950), Rivero recorded more than twenty sides, some in duet with Floreal Ruiz or Aldo Calderón.^[26][27] He became closely identified with “Sur” (Homero Manzi–Aníbal Troilo), “El último organito,” “La viajera perdida” and “Yo te bendigo.”^[26][27][32] Troilo is reported to have told him, in essence, that he did not merely sing but “bled,” recognizing the dramatic weight of his delivery.^[32] Rivero’s bass tessitura was rare among the tenor-dominated singers of the 1940s; combined with a measured, narrative phrasing and a pronounced use of lunfardo, it set him apart from contemporaries.^[26][27][29]

In 1950 Rivero began a solo career, often accompanied by guitar ensembles that included Armando Pagés, Rosendo Pesoa, Adolfo Carné and others, and occasionally by the orchestra of Victor Buchino.^[26][27] He appeared in several films, among them *El cielo en las manos* (1950), in which he sang the title theme by Homero Cárpena and Astor Piazzolla, and *Al compás de tu mentira* (1951).^[26][30] Around 1965 he participated in the album *El Tango*, in which he sang milongas by Piazzolla set to texts by Jorge Luis Borges, with Luis Medina Castro reciting; the project was presented in theaters in Argentina and Uruguay.^[26][27][32] In the late 1960s he recorded with a guitar group led by Roberto Grela.^[26]

Rivero wrote extensively on lunfardo and tango. His books include *Una luz de almacén* and *Las voces, Gardel y el tango*; a third volume on lunfardo language and poetry was left unfinished at his death.^[26][27] He composed numerous pieces in a lunfardo-inflected, sometimes “bully” vein, among them “No mi amor,” “Malón de ausencia,” “A Buenos Aires,” “Falsía,” “Biaba” (with Celedonio Flores), “Pelota de cuero” (with Héctor Marcó) and “Coplas del Viejo Almacén” (with Horacio Ferrer).^[26][27] In 1969 he opened El Viejo Almacén in San Telmo, a venue that hosted both local and international artists and that he later entrusted in part to his son Edmundo (“Muni”).^[26][28][30] Notable evenings included performances with Osvaldo Pugliese’s orchestra and visits by admirers such as Joan Manuel Serrat.^[26]

Rivero was a member of the Academia Porteña del Lunfardo from 1978 and received the Konex de Platino as best male tango singer in 1985.^[28][29] He was hospitalized in late 1985 after suffering a cardiomyopathy on 24 December and died on 18 January 1986 in Buenos Aires at the age of 74.^[26][27][29] His bass voice, narrative approach, deep engagement with lunfardo and the institutional legacy of El Viejo Almacén continue to mark him as one of the distinctive figures of mid- and late-twentieth-century tango.^[26][32]

Early life and pre-Troilo career

Born Leonel Edmundo Rivero on 8 June 1911 in Valentín Alsina, he studied singing and guitar and made early appearances with his sister Eva on Radio Cultura.^[26][27] He worked with José De Caro, Emilio Orlando and Humberto Canaro before joining Horacio Salgán from 1944 to 1947 (no commercial recordings).^[26][27][31]

Years with Aníbal Troilo

Troilo engaged Rivero to replace Alberto Marino; during roughly three years Rivero recorded more than twenty sides and became identified with “Sur,” “El último organito” and other titles.^[26][27] His bass range and dramatic phrasing distinguished him within Troilo’s orchestra.^[26][32]

Solo career, lunfardo and El Viejo Almacén

From 1950 Rivero worked primarily as a soloist with guitar accompaniment and appeared in several films.^[26][30] He collaborated with Piazzolla on Borges texts around 1965 and opened El Viejo Almacén in 1969.^[26][28] He authored books on lunfardo and composed numerous pieces in that register before his death on 18 January 1986.^[26][27]