Oscar Ferrari

Oscar Samuel Rodríguez de Mendoza, who performed under the artistic name Oscar Ferrari, was born on 9 August 1924 at 743 Deán Funes Street in the Balvanera neighborhood of Buenos Aires, on the border with San Cristóbal. His parents, Roberto Salvador and María Antonia Quimino, were dancers who worked in the revista porteña circuit; as a small child Ferrari was regularly taken to the theaters where they performed, including the Maipo and El Nacional, and slept in dressing rooms between shows. He made an early stage appearance at the age of four with the company of Arturo De Bassi. In 1930 the family moved to Montevideo; two years later his father died unexpectedly at age 28. Ferrari and his mother returned to Buenos Aires around 1936 and settled in the working-class neighborhood of Barracas at 645 San Antonio Street, an environment of factories, warehouses, and cobblestone streets that he later associated with his own interpretive style. From an early age he regarded Carlos Gardel as a central figure and believed that voice and feeling were sufficient for tango; only in 1945, while already working with Alfredo Gobbi, did the composer and singer Hugo Gutiérrez persuade him to take formal singing lessons, becoming his sole teacher. ^[1][2][3]

Ferrari began professional work in an era dense with high-level vocalists. After a brief period with Atilio Felice he joined the Típica Gómez in 1943 and participated in a contest held at Luna Park stadium; Juan Caló heard him sing Alma de bohemio and hired him for the boîte La Colmena. In 1945 he moved to Alfredo Gobbi’s orchestra. When called for military service he served in the Navy yet continued performing with the group Los Cantores de América, which included guitarist Adolfo Berón and pianist Alberto Suárez Villanueva. After discharge he joined Edgardo Donato and recorded or performed Galleguita (music by Horacio Pettorossi, lyrics by Alfredo Navarrine), one of his early successes. He then had a short engagement with Astor Piazzolla’s orchestra alongside Fontán Luna until the group disbanded. ^[1][3][4]

Wide public recognition and his first commercial recordings arrived in 1949 when Francisco Fiorentino introduced him to José Basso. Ferrari replaced Ricardo Ruiz and initially shared vocal duties with Fiorentino, later with Jorge Durán. His first catalogued side with Basso was Patotero sentimental, recorded for Odeon on 25 November 1949 in Buenos Aires. Basso instructed him to begin with numbers previously associated with Ruiz, among them Perdón viejita and Venganza. Because Perdón viejita was closely identified with Ruiz, Ferrari chose Venganza (music and lyrics by Carlos Roldán and Manuel Sucher, commonly credited to Rubistein in period sources) as his opening vehicle. Ruiz had sung it in a more polished Fresedo-influenced manner; Ferrari, identifying with his Barracas background, deliberately gave it “un poquito más de barro, un poquito más de arrabal.” The emphatic delivery of the phrase “morí como un perro” caught the public, and the recording became a best-seller; contemporary accounts state that four million copies were sold in the first edition in 1950. Ferrari later recorded Venganza a total of eight times—once with Basso, twice with Pontier, once with Beba Pugliese, and several times as a soloist, including a late-2002 session with young musicians. He himself maintained that it was not his most musically demanding recording; he pointed to La maleva as more difficult, yet credited Venganza with sustaining his career. Other notable Basso sides include Mi vieja viola (17 November 1950), Galleguita (27 June 1950), Los mareados (11 December 1952), and the final catalogued pair Cuando muere el corazón and Sentimiento gaucho (both 23 December 1955). ^[1][5][6]

From 1956 to 1960 Ferrari sang with Armando Pontier’s orchestra beside Julio Sosa, a period that further consolidated his reputation in one of the stronger ensembles of the late 1950s. After the decline of large dance orchestras he worked as a soloist, touring the Argentine interior and neighboring countries including Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. During these absences from Buenos Aires he developed a literary side, publishing Historias de cabaret (prologue by Julián Centeya), Versos de amor y barricada, and A mis colegas, the last containing fraternal portraits of colleagues. In 1970 he returned to Pontier; in 1973 he sang with Leo Lipesker. In 1995 he joined Beba Pugliese’s orchestra and performed in Paris. From 1997 onward he appeared primarily as a soloist while teaching singing at the Escuela Argentina de Tango. He participated in the 2005 Café de los Maestros album produced by Gustavo Santaolalla (singing Será una noche) and in the related 2008 documentary. ^[1][3][7]

Throughout his career Ferrari received the Orden del Porteño, the Discepolín de Oro, the Homero Manzi de Oro, and, in December 2002, the Diploma a la Gloria del Tango from the Academia Porteña del Lunfardo. In 2006 the Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires declared him a Personalidad Destacada de la Cultura. He was noted for a clear, high tenor register, short stature, and an emphasis on respecting the written music and lyrics of the originals rather than adapting them for vocal convenience. Sources disagree on the precise date of his death: Todo Tango, tango.info, and Discogs list 20 August 2008, while Wikipedia and the El País obituary list 21 August 2008. He died in Buenos Aires after a terminal gastric condition for which he had been operated on in February of that year. ^[1][3][8][9]

Early life and formation

Born into a family of variety-theater dancers, Ferrari’s childhood was spent backstage. The move to Barracas after his father’s death in Montevideo placed him in a neighborhood he later invoked when explaining his interpretive choices. His only formal vocal study came in 1945 under Hugo Gutiérrez while he was already working with Alfredo Gobbi; prior to that he relied on natural facility and early exposure to the genre. ^[1][2]

Years with José Basso

The Basso period (1949–1955) produced the bulk of Ferrari’s catalogued commercial recordings for Odeon. First side Patotero sentimental (25 November 1949) was followed by the breakthrough Venganza (20 January 1950). The orchestra’s final sessions with him on 23 December 1955 included Cuando muere el corazón and Sentimiento gaucho. During these years he shared the vocal roster first with Francisco Fiorentino and then with Jorge Durán; several sides are duets (for example El patio de la Morocha, 17 May 1951, and Payada criolla, 17 November 1950). ^[5][6]

Pontier, solo work, teaching, and later years

Between 1956 and 1960 Ferrari formed a vocal partnership with Julio Sosa under Armando Pontier. After the large-orchestra era waned he toured as a soloist and wrote three books drawing on cabaret experience and portraits of colleagues. Returns to Pontier (1970) and work with Leo Lipesker (1973) and Beba Pugliese (1995, including Paris) alternated with solo appearances and teaching at the Escuela Argentina de Tango from 1997. Late projects included the Café de los Maestros sessions. ^[1][3][7]

Style and the Venganza recording

Ferrari described his approach to Venganza as deliberately earthier than the Fresedo-influenced reading given by his predecessor Ricardo Ruiz, stressing the line “morí como un perro.” He recorded the piece eight times across different ensembles and as a soloist. He consistently argued that interpreters should respect the composer’s written music and the lyricist’s text rather than altering either for convenience. ^[1][5]