Tango 1942
Dag Stenvoll y Michael Lavocah · 19 de ago de 2020 · 3:51:00
1942 is the year lyricism takes over tango, led by Troilo's arrangement of Malena — the first proper vocal arrangement written for his orchestra, after a run of vocal numbers delivered almost spontaneously — and matched by D'Agostino, Caló, Di Sarli and even D'Arienzo reaching for more romance and space. Miguel Caló has his commercial breakthrough with Al compás del corazón, a song its own singer Raúl Berón almost refused to record, while Carlos Di Sarli poaches 18-year-old Alberto Podestá straight out of Caló's band. It is an unusually prolific year for dance tango — D'Arienzo alone makes around 33 recordings, Troilo 27 — and, Lavocah and Stenvoll agree, almost all of it will already be familiar to dancers. Formal censorship is still a year away (it begins in mid-1943 under Perón), but self-censorship is already visible, as in two competing takes of Malena's third line; the war in Europe surfaces obliquely too, in older songs like Biagi's Bélgica and in the closing, deliberately non-tango choice of We'll Meet Again.
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Tango 1952Episodio 17 · 2 de sept de 2020 · 3:29:41Lo que este episodio dio a Tangopedia
Datos dichos en el episodio, cada uno citado al minuto en que se dice.
Troilo's 1941 arrangement of Malena, written by bandoneonist Héctor María Artola, was the first proper vocal arrangement made for his orchestra — before that his singers delivered vocal numbers almost spontaneously.
D'Agostino's and Di Sarli's milongas pay more attention to the phrase than to a repeated beat, giving them an unusually lyrical swing (cadencia) compared with most milongas.
Al compás del corazón was written by bandoneonist Domingo Federico, who was still playing in Caló's own orchestra when he brought the tune to the band.
Singer Raúl Berón initially refused to sing Al compás del corazón; when Caló was late to a gig, violinist Enrique Francini sang it instead, the crowd loved it, and only then did Berón take the song on.
Berón started as a folk singer, not a tango singer, which gave him his soft crooning style; Lavocah compares him to the young Frank Sinatra of the early 1940s, before Sinatra's big-band fame.
Capítulo · 2:32
Tango's Most Important Arrangement?
One arrangement, Michael Lavocah says, might be the most important ever written in tango.
Opens the show with a lesser-known D'Agostino/Vargas number about boys playing cards.
Solo en el episodio
A playful milonga paired with A la carta; Lavocah notes D'Agostino's rare piano solo in it.
Verlo bailado · 7
Capítulo · 12:40
The Singer Who Said No to His Own Hit
The song that defined him almost didn't have him on it.
Caló's big commercial breakthrough of the year, written by his own bandoneonist Domingo Federico.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 53
A second Caló track Dag calls simply 'another milonga'; title never spoken, inferred from the lyrics about an old jockey.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 42
Capítulo · 22:36
The Doctor Who Had to Quit Medicine
A gynecologist by day, a tango star by night — until his patients found out.
First of this year's Tanturi/Castillo pair, from the band nicknamed 'the medical orchestra'.
♪ Música · 0:08 ·
Verlo bailado · 7
Paired waltz; Dag guesses Marisabel is just the woman's name in the lyric.
Verlo bailado · 18
Demare finally getting more releases after years stuck in his Odeon contract.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 63
Paired waltz played straight after.
Verlo bailado · 1
A brutally sad 1925 Gardel number about a woman who kills herself over her looks, revived by García's conservatoire band.
Solo en el episodio
Played as the arrangement that defines the year's turn to lyricism.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 21
Another very sad Troilo/Fiorentino number, built from an old Cobián melody with a new Cadícamo lyric.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 2
Instrumental showcase for pianist Orlando Goñi's bass-note crescendo.
Verlo bailado · 26
One of Dag's favourite Firpo waltzes; notable for an unexpected Hammond organ.
Verlo bailado · 1
An older, WWI-era tango about Belgium that resonated again with Belgium's WWII invasion.
Verlo bailado · 51
Introduced as a waltz for 'all those waltz lovers'; discussed afterward by its piano variación.
Verlo bailado · 80
A milonga from the Uruguayan Sica orchestra, sung by Romeo Gavioli (also mentioned alongside a second singer, Freddy).
Solo en el episodio
Capítulo · 1:18:38
The Love Triangle That Blew Up a Happy Orchestra
A singer introduced his girlfriend to the bandleader. It ended in tragedy.
One of Donato's saddest tangos, recorded right as his orchestra was collapsing.
First of a Buzón/Moreno pair.
Second Buzón/Moreno track played straight after.
Verlo bailado · 2
Dag calls Lomuto an underrated 1942 waltz orchestra but never names the track on air.
Solo en el episodio
Played from Fresedo's entirely new 1942 lineup, briefly including violinist Elvino Vardaro.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 1
A milonga about Buenos Aires's old water-sellers, tied to Afro-Argentine history.
Solo en el episodio
Capítulo · 1:48:01
The Water Sellers' Drum
Before the ice-cream van's jingle, there was the water seller's drum.
First Di Sarli track played, with newly-poached singer Podestá.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 58
Second Di Sarli track, with his other 1942 singer Rufino.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 46
Capítulo · 1:50:50
The Card That Made Him Sing Like Never Before
A waiter handed an 18-year-old singer a business card mid-show. It changed his life.
A Di Sarli waltz praised for its violin counter-melodies, again with Podestá.
Solo en el episodio
♪ Música · 2:08 ·
One of three D'Arienzo singers this year; Dag plays this before the instrumental Loca.
An old instrumental that Lavocah suspects actually dates from D'Arienzo's pre-1940 band.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 165
D'Arienzo's main 1942 singer, called by Lavocah the best of his three that year.
Verlo bailado · 4
Paired waltz, same session as Barranca abajo.
First of a Laurenz pair; Dag's title is badly garbled on the recording.
Solo en el episodio
♪ Música · 0:13 ·
Second Laurenz track; Dag notes this singer surnamed Podestá is unrelated to Alberto Podestá.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 73
First of this year's two La Cumparsita readings, Di Sarli's instrumental.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 25
Biagi/Ortiz version with a spoken glosa partway through, tied to the song's lyric lawsuit.
Played for a guessing game: Brunelli, an accordionist, was the first Argentine artist to get a gold disc.
Solo en el episodio
♪ Música · 2:03 ·
Capítulo · 2:44:16
The Gold Disc Before D'Arienzo
Before D'Arienzo. Before Di Sarli. Tango's first gold-disc star played the accordion.
Demare's own version of the song he wrote, played in the afterparty to compare with Troilo's.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 35
A track with Demare's other 1942 singer, Roberto Arrieta.
♪ Música · 2:42 · La letra, en la página del tango
One more Fiorentino number, an older tango about the city.
More Tanturi/Castillo in the afterparty; Castillo's taunting verse reportedly started real fights.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 59
A Discépolo-lyric Tanturi/Castillo number.
Verlo bailado · 2
A third 1942 Tanturi/Castillo track whose opening lines reference Afro-Argentine history.
Verlo bailado · 7
Capítulo · 3:10:23
Hidden History in a Copper Coin
A 1942 tango's opening lines hide a brutal piece of Argentine history.
A second, instrumental Lomuto track played in the afterparty.
Verlo bailado · 4
Another Firpo waltz from the year, played in the afterparty.
First of a short closing D'Arienzo/Mauré run.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 29
Announced straight after Mírame en la cara; the lyrics that follow don't clearly match this title.
Solo en el episodio
Third of the closing D'Arienzo run, also unconfirmed by the audible lyrics.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 75
First of a closing three-track Laurenz run in the afterparty.
Verlo bailado · 1
A Pedro Maffia composition from the 1930s, played second.
Billed by Dag as one of the greatest waltz arrangements ever recorded; closes the Laurenz run despite his having said a different third title.
La letra, en la página del tango
Verlo bailado · 10
A deliberately non-tango swing closer, chosen for its wartime resonance.
Solo en el episodio
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Tango By Year es de Dag Stenvoll y Michael Lavocah, publicado aquí con su permiso. El audio se reproduce desde SoundCloud.