Aníbal Troilo · Tango By Year

1932

CapítuloSeventeen years old, fourth chair
Before he was a legend, Troilo was the fourth bandoneon in a band nobody remembers.

1938

Un disco aún sin identificar
One of Troilo's first two recordings, played to compare with D'Arienzo's 1936 version; the band adds a 3-3-2 syncopation and stop-time that the composition does not imply.
Solo en el episodio
Tinta verde
Troilo's first disc, with the Comme il faut on the other side; an instrumental.
Comme il faut
Played back to back to hear the dynamic range Troilo adds compared with D'Arienzo's 1936 version. Start time approximate.
CapítuloThe disc that 'didn't sell'
Troilo's first record was called a failure. Then nothing for three years.
CapítuloTroilo sings on a bad acetate
The only 1938 recording of Troilo with Fiorentino is from a radio acetate.
Vieja amiga
Francisco Fiorentino
A live radio recording from Radio El Mundo (poor sound): shows Fiorentino's very plastic phrasing and the wider repertoire the band played.
Solo en el episodio
Comme il Faut
Troilo's only 1938 recording, a one-off test disc for Odeon that did not sell, leaving a three-year gap before his next session; chosen to show his extrovert-to-introvert mood shift already present at the end.

1939

CapítuloA De Caro without the lawyer's recommendation
Without this man there's no Pugliese, no Troilo, no Laurenz.

1940

CapítuloThe Singer Who Said No to Troilo
He turned down Aníbal Troilo because he didn't want to work nights.

1941

CapítuloThe year Troilo finally got his deal
Three years stuck in a contract that wouldn't record him. Then 1941 happened.
El bulín de la calle Ayacucho
Francisco Fiorentino
One of Troilo's best-known 1941 recordings, with lyrics by Cadícamo describing a real room he and his friends used to rent.
Un disco aún sin identificar
An energetic Troilo instrumental played to show the band's more complex music: the left-hand piano runs, a David Díaz violin solo, and a true counter-melody from second violin Barrales.
Solo en el episodio
El jarón
Francisco Fiorentino
A poor-quality radio recording of a milonga played for the band's energy and for Fiorentino's most extreme phrasing, hanging on the first note then rushing to catch up.
Solo en el episodio
Te aconsejo que me olvides
Francisco Fiorentino
Troilo's own composition, played right after the 1950 show mentioned Mancione's recording of it and the plane story.
Un disco aún sin identificar
Francisco Fiorentino
Described as the first milonga Troilo ever recorded in the studio, from 1941; Lavocah praises Goñi's drive in it.
Solo en el episodio
El motivo
Francisco Fiorentino
Same arrangement as the 1961 version, in poor sound; the band is 'on fire'.
Solo en el episodio
El jarón
Francisco Fiorentino
Replayed at Lavocah's request as an extraordinary performance; the acetate was reissued with a new transfer by the Clarín newspaper.
Solo en el episodio
Pájaro ciego
Francisco Fiorentino and Alberto Marino
Played first in the old CD transfer, with a fast echo and the first chord missing, then in the Tango Tunes transfer. The only Fiorentino-Marino duet.
Pájaro ciego
Francisco Fiorentino and Alberto Marino
The Tango Tunes transfer with the missing opening chord restored; the lyric compares a caged songbird to someone not free in love.
Colorao, colorao
Francisco Fiorentino
A countryside tango sung to a horse; until the April 2020 Tango Tunes edition every version lacked 15 seconds of Troilo's bandoneón solo cut by an engineer in the 1970s.
Solo en el episodio
CapítuloRecuerdo came back in 1941
Pugliese did not bring Recuerdo back. Lomuto and Troilo did.
Tinta roja
Francisco Fiorentino
In the new Tango Tunes 1938-42 edition; a tango about a brick wall that contains in embryo all the contrasts of later Troilo, with a strong, masculine verse and an intimate chorus.
El tamango
A masterclass from pianist Orlando Goñi, absolutely destroying the piano with rumbling left-hand bass notes.
Del tiempo guapo
A milonga 'from the beautiful times' to close Lavocah's tango selection.
Un disco aún sin identificar
Francisco Fiorentino
A radio acetate of a Troilo-Fiorentino waltz in poor fidelity, with free phrasing; lyrics begin 'Mucho tiempo después de alejarme, vuelvo al barrio que un día dejé'.
Solo en el episodio
Te aconsejo que me olvides
Francisco Fiorentino
From Troilo and Fiorentino's first vocal recordings in 1941, an up-tempo track picked to show the mood shift from extrovert verse to a more introvert chorus already seeded there.

1942

Grisel
Francisco Fiorentino
A love story about a blonde village girl of German descent, one of the Contursi Griselle songs.
Solo en el episodio
Pa' que bailen los muchachos
Francisco Fiorentino
Troilo's own composition, in a way written for himself: 'I play so the lads will dance'.
C.T.V.
A pun title ('Ce-Te-Ve', spoken in Spanish: 'te veo', I see you), chosen for Goñi's piano and the bass keeping time near the end.
La tablada
A Canaro composition and an example of the call-and-response between Troilo's bandoneón and Goñi's piano at the opening.
Malena
Francisco Fiorentino
Played as the arrangement that defines the year's turn to lyricism.
Los mareados
Francisco Fiorentino
Another very sad Troilo/Fiorentino number, built from an old Cobián melody with a new Cadícamo lyric.
La maleva
Instrumental showcase for pianist Orlando Goñi's bass-note crescendo.
Buenos Aires
Francisco Fiorentino
One more Fiorentino number, an older tango about the city.
Malena
Francisco Fiorentino
The recording that epitomizes 1942's slowdown: it fades in as if from a distance, Goñi plays a piano solo, and it is the first arranged vocal number in the Troilo band. A first take was made in January.

1943

Garúa
Francisco Fiorentino
Chosen to show Orlando Goñi's piano technique (double articulation) and the shimmering violins.
Soñar y nada más
Alberto Marino and Francisco Fiorentino
A waltz by Canaro that Troilo transforms into a sophisticated confection, comparable to his Canaro-composed La tablada.
La cumparsita
The first of Troilo's four recordings of the song, arranged by Piazzolla (one of ten Piazzolla arrangements in the 40s); the highlight is Troilo's one-note bandoneón solo and his 10-15 second seizing of the first theme at the end.
Uno
Alberto Marino
Probably the most recorded tango of the year, by eight or more top orchestras.
Cada vez que me recuerdes
Alberto Marino
Played as a pair with Uno; both are fantastic.
Ropa blanca
Alberto Marino
A milonga from the Troilo universe, played before the lyric discussion in the afterparty.
Farolito de papel
Alberto Marino
Shows Marino's supreme vocal control, from fortissimo to a whisper; Marino joined as second singer next to Fiorentino.

1944

Alhucema
Alberto Marino
A song about a funeral and mourning for a Black woman, picked to echo the exotic theme of Demare's Oriente.
Piropos
An instrumental whose title Dag translates as 'pick-up lines'.
Solo en el episodio
Palomita Blanca
Alberto Marino & Floreal Ruiz
Michael's one personal birthday request from all of 1944, for its counter-melody, later reused in Troilo's 1950s-60s guitar quartet.
Tabaco
Francisco Fiorentino
From Fiorentino's last recording session with Troilo; a Contursi lyric about seeing and smelling a lost love in tobacco smoke, where Troilo shifts the marcato between four beats and two beats to the bar.
La vi llegar
Alberto Marino
A song Dag likes for Marino's treatment; also recorded by Caló, whose interpretation Dag prefers on the violin introduction.
Sigue el corso
Alberto Marino
A carnival-themed Troilo-Marino tango, added to the one Troilo side the main show had time for.
Solo en el episodio
Después
Alberto Marino
Troilo and Marino's version of Homero Manzi's lyric, played before the night's surprise alternate take.
Compromiso
Alberto Marino
A Troilo-Marino milonga, a change of pace after two tangos.
Solo en el episodio
Alhucema
Alberto Marino
An uncommonly-played track chosen to show Marino's full operatic vocal range; the lyric is about a funeral and the title refers to a city in northern Morocco.

1945

La noche que te fuiste
Floreal Ruiz
Recorded in June 1945, exactly 75 years before the broadcast; Troilo opens it with a three-second violin and gives the band no chamber-music solos, unlike Caló.
Cotorita de la suerte
Alberto Marino
A heartbreaker in which Marino moves from loud to quiet with perfect articulation thanks to bel canto training; Lavocah tells the full lyric (a seamstress, a fortune-telling parrot, tuberculosis).
Solo en el episodio
Color de rosa
One of the Troilo instrumentals underplayed because of the vocals; Dag says it is very rarely played, with a Di Sarli version also worth hearing.
Un disco aún sin identificar
Floreal Ruiz
A beautiful Troilo waltz with Floreal Ruiz, played second of the two; the piano is José Basso, not Gogni.
Solo en el episodio
Un disco aún sin identificar
Libertad Lamarque
A heartbreaking song about a dark alley sung by Lamarque, notable for her low register, which is rarely heard.
Solo en el episodio

1946

Mientras Gime el Bandoneón
Floreal Ruiz
Called 'a killer' by both hosts; Ruiz brings a smoother, rounder voice than labelmate Marino.
Sin Palabras
Alberto Marino
One of the songs of the year, recorded several times; compared to Pugliese's more dramatic version, but Troilo's is also superb.
CapítuloWhy Troilo could never record La Yumba
Some tangos belong to everyone. This one belongs to one man.
Mi Tango Triste
Alberto Marino
Billed as 'one more power number' to pair with the softer Tarde Gris.
Tarde Gris
Floreal Ruiz
A soft, subtle, lesser-known autumnal tango, 'heartbreakingly beautiful and not played enough.'
Qué me van a hablar de amor
Floreal Ruiz
A nuanced, mature lyric: a man who has had thousands of love affairs but knows he still has more to learn about love.

1947

CapítuloFound on the radio dial at midnight
Troilo couldn't sleep. That's how he found his strangest singer.
Confesión
Floreal Ruiz
Part of the first record Troilo released in 1947, two Discépolo numbers; picked for its syncopation and emotional complexity.
Che Bandoneón
Edmundo Rivero
Rivero's first big feature with Troilo; chosen for the ending that fades to a near-inaudible whisper, which Rivero was proud of.
Solo en el episodio
Gardel Razzano (El morrocho y el oriental)
Edmundo Rivero, Floreal Ruiz
One of only two Troilo recordings with Rivero and Ruiz singing together; a tribute to Gardel and his partner Razzano, with a spoken glosa.
Solo en el episodio
Romance de Barrio
Floreal Ruiz
Closes the Troilo set with a waltz, since the vals Dag really wanted, Lágrimas de mi corazón, was recorded in 1948.
Gira, gira
Edmundo Rivero
Rivero's first recording with Troilo, a bleak Discépolo lyric about luck turning and ultimate loneliness; Lavocah notes the street-corner double meaning of the title.
Solo en el episodio
Un disco aún sin identificar
Floreal Ruiz
A Contursi-lyric tango, translated by Dag as 'Lost Stars', about a love that never returns.
Solo en el episodio
Confesión
Floreal Ruiz
A Discépolo song on the other side of Gira, gira; a personal favourite of both hosts. Dag said they had not heard much Ruiz that night.
CapítuloThe Singer Troilo Kept Quiet
Troilo never let a singer get louder than the band. One of them got fired for turning up his own microphone.
Organito de la tarde
Alberto Marino
Normally an instrumental; this version is sung. As a soloist act within the band, Marino is finally close enough to the mic to show off his voice.
Solo en el episodio
CapítuloThe Tango Troilo Never Got to Record
Troilo's band played it live on the radio in 1947. Nobody heard it properly again until 2014.
Los Despojos
Floreal Ruiz
From a live 1947 Radio El Mundo broadcast, never issued on shellac and recovered for the 2014 'Pichuco 100 años' reissue; the only studio version on record is by a different orchestra, Miguel Caló.
Solo en el episodio
Flor de lino
Floreal Ruiz
The closing waltz of the night.
Y la perdí (title uncertain)
Floreal Ruiz
The play-out track as the hosts sign off.
Solo en el episodio
Y la perdí
Floreal Ruiz
One of two Troilo classics played back to back, introduced with the story of Argentine dancers rushing the floor for a Troilo-Ruiz tanda while European visitors sat out.

1948

Lagrimitas de mi corazón
Floreal Ruiz and Edmundo Rivero
A duet waltz recorded on 8 July 1948, exactly 72 years before the show.
CapítuloTroilo: 'Not in my orchestra'
Troilo said he never heard Castillo sing a wrong note. And still said no.
Un disco aún sin identificar
Floreal Ruiz
One of Troilo's three best tracks of the year, a jealousy song ('aunque me muera de celos'); Stenvoll calls it 'Desvelo'.
Solo en el episodio
Sur
Edmundo Rivero
Lavocah's 'monster of a tango' in his Troilo book: Manzi's lyric encodes his lost love and impending death, and 'south' means the authentic poor side of the city.
Cafetín de Buenos Aires
Edmundo Rivero
After-party: a very significant tango from 1948.
De todas maneras
Floreal Ruiz
After-party: also known as Cabeza de novia, a listener explained as being so absorbed in love you forget the world.
Solo en el episodio
Ojos negros
The last tango of the night: Vicente Greco's composition (perhaps from 1910) in which Troilo finds more in it than was written.
Sur
Edmundo Rivero
Played as Rivero's whispered masterpiece, noted as partly Manzi's own farewell letter written while dying of cancer.

1949

Y volvemos a querernos
Aldo Calderón
Known better from Pugliese and Morán; Calderón's soft voice and a silky ending.
Patético
A theme from Pugliese's repertoire; Troilo's arrangement has less power and more feeling.
A unos ojos
Aldo Calderón / Edmundo Rivero
An introvert, bittersweet waltz sung as a duet.
Mi noche triste
Edmundo Rivero
An old Gardel number; Lavocah calls it the culmination of Troilo's lyricism and the end of an era.
CapítuloTroilo's lyrical farewell
The last great lyrical year.
Una lágrima tuya
Aldo Calderón / Edmundo Rivero
A Mariano Mores song that would have belonged to Canaro had Troilo not recorded it; Calderón enters first, very tenderly, then Rivero.
El viajero perdido
Edmundo Rivero
One of two Rivero songs Lavocah chose to show Troilo's subtle 1949 work, which needs good fidelity.
Solo en el episodio
Tú
A lyric by José María Contursi, part of the cycle that begins with Gricel.

1950

CapítuloWhy Troilo vanished for a year
In 1949 Troilo walked out of Victor, and the repertoire went in the bin.
Para lucirse
Dag's pick for Piazzolla's 'étude for modern tango', Troilo's first take on Piazzolla's ideas; cello and double bass carry the intro, then Troilo's bandoneón solo.
Silencio
Edmundo Rivero
A radio transfer of Rivero's farewell appearance with Troilo, introduced by Troilo's own spoken farewell speech; the song's closing silence doubles as the end of their partnership.
Solo en el episodio
Title unclear (Piazzolla arrangement)
One of the new Piazzolla arrangements played by Troilo, 'reviewed and approved by Troilo'.
Solo en el episodio

1951

Un disco aún sin identificar
Played unannounced to test whether the audience could recognize an obscure 1951 Troilo piece; discussion afterward confirms it is Troilo in his new, Piazzolla-influenced modernist style.
Solo en el episodio
CapítuloThe Night Troilo Wrote a Hymn for His Best Friend
He slipped away from a card game at midnight and came back with a funeral prayer.
Responso
An instrumental Troilo wrote the night his friend and lyricist Homero Manzi died; 'responso' is a funeral prayer, so this is Troilo's hymn for Manzi.
De Vuelta al Bulín
Raúl Berón
Played alongside Responso; praised for Berón's voice, said to be some of his best recordings despite the poor sound quality of Troilo's Tecal-era releases.
Preparense
Composed and arranged by Piazzolla for Troilo's orchestra; described as finally 'Piazzolla and Troilo in union,' with a pizzicato violin passage recalling Tanguera (1956).
La Trampera
A joyful milonga composed by Troilo himself, built almost entirely on the offbeat.
Inspiracion
An emotionally overwhelming version with Carlos Figari (not Orlando Goni) on piano and the cello pushed further forward than in Troilo's 1940s recordings.
Bien Milonga
Composed by Ismael Spitalnik, a trained industrial chemist who treated music as a side activity; more danceable than Piazzolla's arrangements for Troilo from the same period.
CapítuloThe chemist who moonlighted as a tango composer
His day job was breaking down chemicals. At night, he wrote one of Troilo's best milongas.

1952

Malena
Raúl Berón
A magnificent version of Demare's tango; Troilo's earlier version with Fiorentino (1942) is the one dancers know.
Un tango para Estercita
Raúl Berón
Berón's last with Troilo; Lavocah calls it plangent, and explains that 'Estercita' signals the girl who is both the bright light and victim of cabaret life, like Milonguita.
Solo en el episodio
Malena
Raúl Berón
A later re-recording of Malena with Berón, picked to show that tango's single spirit (heard in the 1942 Fiorentino version) has now fractured into separate, incompatible directions.
El Choclo
Raúl Berón
Troilo's only vocal recording of El Choclo; the hosts note the song is one of the few tangos that survived in the catalogue as both a pure instrumental and a sung number.
Quejas de bandoneón
Michael calls this the best of Troilo's three recordings of the piece, and maybe the best recording of it by anyone, balancing the band's early vigor against its later, more symphonic style.
Orlando Goñi
A tribute composed by Alfredo Gobbi for his friend, pianist Orlando Goñi, who played for Troilo until mid-1943; played instead of a Goñi recording because Goñi himself barely recorded anything that year.
CapítuloTroilo's Pianist Got His Own Song, From His Best Friend
He played piano for Troilo until 1943. In 1952, Troilo paid him back with a tango.
CapítuloTroilo Heard the Future Before the Singer Did
One of Goyeneche's earliest recordings, and Troilo already knew where it was going.
La cumparsita
Closes the main show; Dag reads out a contemporary 1952 magazine review praising Troilo's restrained, ensemble-balanced version over directors who overdo the solos.
Mano brava
A Troilo milonga re-recording that rarely gets aired because the famous 1940s original is usually preferred; Michael, after hearing it, still prefers the 1940s version.
Contratiempo
Written by Astor Piazzolla for Troilo's early-50s band; Michael likes that it is one of Piazzolla's less overdone arrangements for the orchestra.

1953

La cachila
Troilo-Grela quartet; you hear the vibrato, and the conversando phrasing he learned from Ciriaco Ortiz.
Solo en el episodio
Mensaje
Raúl Berón
First recording of the song (Troilo-Rufino version is 1965); the lyric from Cátulo Castillo, said to have been dictated by Homero Manzi in a dream.
Ojos negros
Spitalnik's 1948 arrangement re-recorded, more expressive; first time in Tango By Year.
Una canción
Jorge Casal
One of the songs of the year, a very long and heavy lyric.
Vuelve la serenata
Jorge Casal and Raúl Berón
A vals duet; they say Troilo's 1950s singers get better the more you hear them.
CapítuloA Japanese singer, Troilo and Perón
She came to Buenos Aires on holiday and ended up singing Sur with Troilo.
Sur
Ranko Fujisawa
Live radio recording from the Teatro Cervantes (heard as 'Teatro de Cépolo') with Troilo and Roberto Grela accompanying, Perón in the audience; Troilo's greeting precedes the song.
Solo en el episodio
CapítuloThe milonga Troilo wrote and never recorded
Troilo wrote a milonga and never recorded it.
El monito
Last record: Julio De Caro's composition, finally interpreted by Troilo, with some striking discords.

1954

Contrabajeando
A Troilo and Piazzolla composition in tribute to double bass players, especially Kicho Díaz.
El pollo Ricardo
An instrumental in which Troilo leaves out one note of the melody, creating a syncopated feeling.
Taquito militar
Mariano Mores' milonga from a 1953 film, rhythmical and playful, danceable partly because there is no singer.
Corrientes angosta
Raúl Berón
After-party: a sentimental tango about the narrow old Corrientes street before it was widened; not a milonga number.

1955

El Irresistible
An old composition dancers know from D'Arienzo's versions; Lavocah plays it to show Troilo's new pianist, Osvaldo Manzi, even in a year Troilo barely records.
Intermezzo
Arranged by Roberto Pansera; played straight after El Irresistible as the more forward-looking of Troilo's few 1955 sides, so the exact split point between the two tracks is approximate.

1956

La última curda
Edmundo Rivero
One of two special-guest recordings Rivero made with Troilo in 1956; Cátulo Castillo's lyric about drinking the last bitter cup, and the subject of a full chapter in Lavocah's book.

1958

Barrio Pobre
Roberto Goyeneche
One of only four 1958 Troilo vocals with Goyeneche, a nostalgic song about the old neighbourhood, recorded in much better fidelity now that Troilo has left the low-quality TK label for Odeón.
Danzarín
A modern instrumental loved by classical musicians but, Lavocah insists, nearly impossible to dance to because its sudden tempo changes are never telegraphed to the dancer.
Solo en el episodio
CapítuloThe Troilo recording that wasn't
For decades, collectors swore this record was Troilo. It wasn't.

1959

CapítuloTroilo's last LP wasn't Troilo
Pontier did all the work.

1960

Title unclear
Roberto Rufino
Rufino rejoins Troilo some 20 years after; Lavocah compares Troilo to Jürgen Klopp for improving every singer.
Solo en el episodio

1961

El motivo
Roberto Goyeneche
A Juan Carlos Cobián tango given a new lease of life; Lavocah asks listeners to notice the band's opening riff, but warns that a sudden tempo change two minutes in is hard to dance to.

1964

Madreselva
Nelly Vásquez
Lavocah considers Vásquez the best woman singer to sing with Troilo because the orchestra does not overpower her; a secretly recorded 25-minute rehearsal shows Troilo coaching her phrasing.

1965

Mensaje
Roberto Rufino
A Discépolo melody completed after his death by Cátulo Castillo, who said Discépolo dictated the lyric in a dream; same arrangement as Troilo's 1953 Berón version but in better sound.
Quedémonos aquí
Nelly Vásquez
A lyric by Homero Expósito that Lavocah ranks among the five best tango lyrics after 1950, about the grey area between love and hate and a second chance.

1968

Nocturno a mi barrio
Aníbal Troilo (recitation)
A poem Troilo spoke after a wake; Lavocah says half of his lecture audiences cry at it and it ends with the stars calling 'Gordo, quédate aquí'.

1971

Trenzas
Roberto Goyeneche
Played as an example of Troilo's last, concert-era recordings; the only Troilo recording of a piece Laurenz, Caló, Biagi and Canaro had recorded in 1944-45.

Año desconocido

CapítuloThe blue suit
Why Dag and Michael wore blue suits to talk about Troilo.
Capítulo27 hours for one drink
Troilo said he'd be back in an hour.
Mi tango triste
Alberto Marino
Another lost-love song of the Griselle cycle; Lavocah uses it with Confesión to show how Troilo's syncopation intensifies in the late 40s 'like a wave'.
CapítuloThe singer Troilo pushed out
Troilo threw Goyeneche out of the orchestra, and he was right.
CapítuloGordo, quédate aquí
Troilo's poem to his neighbourhood, improvised at a wake.
Un disco aún sin identificar
A Troilo vocal played 'for something completely different' after La tablada; lyric begins 'Quise cobrar este amargo rencor'.
Solo en el episodio
Un disco aún sin identificar
A second vocal in the sequence after the Tango Tunes discussion; ends on 'nunca más'.
Solo en el episodio
Palomita blanca
Alberto Marino and Floreal Ruiz
The orchestra version of the waltz, where the violins' counter-melody is brought out even more than in the quartet version.
CapítuloTroilo and the lyric that is about you
One day you will realise the song is about you.