Roberto Videla

Roberto Videla, whose real name was Antonio Genaro De Tomaso (sometimes rendered Di Tomaso), was born on 16 December 1924 in Buenos Aires.^[1][2] From an early age he showed aptitude for singing and good intonation; his father encouraged him to study with a teacher for two years, until he was twelve.^[1] He performed regularly at school parties and social gatherings. His first professional engagement came at age eighteen, when he sang with the little-known Orquesta Típica Ritmo led by José Bova, using the stage name Humberto Rey.^[1]

In 1944, before entering military service, he joined the ensemble of Juan Carlos Caviello and made his radio debut on LR2 Radio Argentina.^[1] During that year he also appeared briefly with Edgardo Donato and later with the group of the fine violinist Raúl Kaplún; he additionally toured several cities with Enrique Mora’s quartet.^[1] After completing his military obligations, a friend introduced him to Ricardo Tanturi’s orchestra. Enrique Campos, who had succeeded Alberto Castillo and had been carrying the vocal load alone for more than two years, himself asked the leader for a second singer. Videla auditioned and was accepted.^[1][3]

His debut with Tanturi took place on Radio El Mundo on 17 October 1945 at 9 p.m., a date that coincided with a major political turning point in Argentina.^[1] His definitive artistic name, Roberto Videla, was chosen through a listener poll.^[1] The first recording was the waltz “Tu vieja ventana” (Guillermo Barbieri / Ambrosio Río), cut on 23 October 1945 with Enrique Campos for RCA Victor (matrix 60-0799).^[2][4] Over the next three years he recorded approximately 29 titles with Tanturi, many of them duets with Campos or with the later singer Osvaldo Ribó.^[1][2][5] Among the notable sides are “Alma en pena,” “No me escribas,” “Viejo ciego,” “San José de Flores,” “Amores de estudiante” (with Ribó), and the final session of 25 June 1948 that produced the tango “Campeonato” (Tanturi / Reinaldo Yiso) and the waltz “Dos que se aman” (with Ribó).^[1][2][6] He also composed the music for the tango “En la copa de la vida,” with lyrics by Reinaldo Yiso, recorded with Tanturi on 15 November 1946.^[7]

Contemporary opinion of his voice was measured. A veteran singer who shared bills with him in the 1940s later told biographer Néstor Pinsón that Videla was “a good-looking kid, kind of blond… but as a singer… he was just correct. He lacked personality for tango.”^[1] Pinsón himself judged the assessment accurate: Videla devoted only a few years entirely to tango before moving to an international repertoire that eventually took him abroad permanently.^[1]

After leaving Tanturi he gradually abandoned the genre. He cut a waltz and a foxtrot with Enrique Rodríguez in 1950–1951.^[2][5] He also recorded Paraguayan material with Herminio Giménez’s orchestra (including a song by the then-unknown Horacio Rodríguez, later famous as Horacio Guarany) and several non-tango pieces with the radio orchestra of Fraga Jouvet.^[1] By the late 1950s he was singing fully in the melodic, pop, Italian, and English styles. In 1958 he emigrated to the United States.^[1]

Newspaper clippings from July and October 1959 document his early appearances at the Italian restaurant In Boboli in New York, whose owner was the pianist and bandleader Aldo Bruschi; Videla remained associated with the venue for several years.^[1] He subsequently performed in hotels and restaurants in Boston, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Miami, later working in Puerto Rico (where he was billed as “El trovador de América”) and Panama. He shared a stage with Xavier Cugat and the singer Dulcina.^[1] In 1990 he returned to Argentina intending to work and settle, but the plan did not succeed and he went back to North America.^[1] He died on 1 January 2005.^[1][2]

Although never a first-rank star of the Golden Age, Videla left a solid body of danceable, well-recorded sides with Tanturi that continue to circulate among dancers and collectors. His career illustrates the common trajectory of many mid-level vocalists of the 1940s who, once the peak years of the orquestas típicas had passed, found more sustainable work in the broader international popular-music market.^[1]

Early life and first engagements

Born Antonio Genaro De Tomaso on 16 December 1924 in Buenos Aires, Videla received only brief formal vocal training yet was already performing publicly by adolescence.^[1] His first paid work was with José Bova’s Orquesta Típica Ritmo under the pseudonym Humberto Rey. The 1944 radio debut with Juan Carlos Caviello on LR2, followed by short stints with Edgardo Donato and Raúl Kaplún and a tour with Enrique Mora, gave him the experience that prepared him for the Tanturi orchestra the following year.^[1]

The Tanturi years (1945–1948)

The association with Ricardo Tanturi began after military service. The debut on 17 October 1945 at Radio El Mundo is repeatedly noted for its historical coincidence with the events of that day.^[1][3] The discography is well documented: the first matrix was “Tu vieja ventana” with Enrique Campos on 23 October 1945; the last session on 25 June 1948 yielded “Campeonato” and “Dos que se aman.”^[1][2][4][6] Roughly 29 titles were issued, many of them still sought by dancers for their clear, unmannered delivery and Tanturi’s tight rhythmic support. One of the few pieces he composed, “En la copa de la vida,” was recorded in November 1946.^[7]

Departure from tango and later career

By the early 1950s Videla had already begun recording outside the tango idiom—with Enrique Rodríguez, Herminio Giménez, and Fraga Jouvet.^[1][2] In 1958 he left Argentina for the United States, working primarily in Italian restaurants and hotels (most notably In Boboli in New York under Aldo Bruschi) and later in Puerto Rico, Panama, and other Caribbean venues, where he was sometimes billed as “El trovador de América.”^[1] A brief attempt to resettle in Argentina in 1990 was unsuccessful.^[1] He died on 1 January 2005.^[1][2]