Tango 1946
Dag Stenvoll and Michael Lavocah · 2020-10-14 · 3:24:26
1946 is a diverse year, hard to sum up in one line: Di Sarli sounds much as he did the year before, Troilo keeps developing his own individual line, and Pugliese finally records La Yumba after preparing it for three years or more, a turning point for his orchestra. D'Arienzo grows lighter and more sophisticated, with the growing influence of arrangers Varela and Salamanca. Several bandleaders who split from Miguel Caló at the end of 1944 but missed 1945 make their recording debuts this year: Osmar Maderna, Francini-Pontier, and Astor Piazzolla's short-lived, dance-unfriendly 'Típica.' The show also marks a landmark reissue: a two-year Belgian restoration project (Tango Time Travel) puts out the complete 1940s D'Arienzo discography, 230 tracks, in far better sound than anything available before, especially the hard-to-find 1946 Armando Laborde sides. The post-war setting (the episode opens on Édith Piaf's 'La Vie en Rose') frames a year when, as Michael Lavocah puts it, tango starts going in many directions at once.
What this episode gave Tangopedia
Facts said in the episode, each now cited to the minute it is said.
Pugliese finally recorded La Yumba in 1946 after preparing the piece for three years or more; it marks a turning point for the orchestra.
Francini-Pontier and Osmar Maderna both split from Miguel Caló's orchestra at the end of 1944 but missed recording in 1945, so 1946 is their debut year.
In 1946, having separated from singer Francisco Fiorentino, Piazzolla launched his own 'Típica,' an unusual band not organised around dancing.
Alberto Durán was Di Sarli's only singer in 1946; Michael guesses Di Sarli simply hadn't found a second singer he liked, or vice versa.
Nelly Omar made only about ten recordings with a tipica orchestra in her whole career, all with Canaro between 1946 and 1948.
Records played · 47
Transcript
Transcribed by machine from the audio, then punctuated; names may be misheard. Tap any line to hear it. The episode is in English, and so is its transcript.
Now playing
La Vie en RoseÉdith Piaf0:00 / 0:50
Cold-open contrast: a post-war Paris chanson before the show turns to 1946 tango.
♪ Music · 0:50 ·
That was Édith Piaf singing La Vie en Rose in post-war France. Good evening and welcome to 1946. Michael, I haven't seen you since 1939. How have you been? It's been such a long time. It's been a lot of good music since then, hasn't it?
Musically speaking, wow, what an intense period, 1939 to 1946. Yeah. I'll take it. Yeah. We have a portrait of a woman, Nelly Omar, on our event photo. But despite this very feminine impression of the event, I think tonight's program will be more about masculine power tango because there is a brand new D'Arienzo release out on the market. I'm very excited about it. And I know you are too, Michael. Very much. Yeah.
But first we should say a few words about 1946. The war has just ended. And what can you say about tango in this period?
Well, tango in 1946 is really quite diverse. It's hard to sum up, and that's telling us something. So if we just do the round of the big four, Di Sarli's just doing his thing, sounds the same as it did last year. Troilo is developing, but in very much his own individual line. Pugliese's produced La Yumba. Okay, he's been preparing this for three years or more, but finally he records that. So that's a point of departure, something new on the broader scene. And D'Arienzo is becoming more sophisticated. The music feels lighter, and more and more we hear the influence of Varela and Salamanca in that music and a bit less the influence of D'Arienzo, maybe.
But putting those to one side, there's a lot of new bands that record for the first time. First of all, there's all the guys who split with Miguel Calo at the end of 44. So that was a year ago, but they didn't get to record in 45, so we hear the first recordings of Osmar Maderna and Francini-Pontier. Now, Maderna, quite obviously Callot influenced, I guess, although with his pianistic romantic French touches. But Francini-Pontier, a very varied repertoire. Yes, coming out of Callot, you can hear that, especially in Francini's violin, but very broad repertoire. I mean, Arabal is one of the first things they record, which is straight out of the repertoire of the post-diccarians, you know, guys like Laurenz. So how do we think about them? Perhaps it's more musicians' music.
And even further in the line of musicians' music, Piazzolla has the experiment of his Tipica. He's separated from Fiorentino now, and he tries running a normal Tipica for a couple of years, but it's by no means a normal Tipica. Very unusual band, absolutely not organized around dancing. So a very diverse year. I think that's what we see in 46. Tango music starts going in many directions at once.
Yeah, and when I was preparing for this, I found a lot of the music is quite known from milongas, although of course there's also unknown material. And for new listeners who haven't heard us before, the concept here is that Michael doesn't know what I'll be playing. So I could put on anything of those, about 500 recordings from this year. And for a start, it's funny you should mention Francini-Pontier because I wanted actually to start with them, a bit soft start here with the voice of God, Raoul Baron singing the tango Remolino. And we have good memories from the Remolino Tango Festival, Michael, don't we, in the Ukraine?
Well, yes, you and I both do, and I'm sure a few other people joining us tonight. And of course, that's a festival that won't take place this new year. So that was also on my mind as we approached the 1946 show. Yeah. Remolino, it would be nice to hear that and to acknowledge this. A festival that was one of the first ones really to put a lot of emphasis on the music.
And yeah, and Francini-Pontier has Berón singing for them, but they also have Podestà singing for them this year. So the second song I want to play is Alma de Bohemio. And this is an interesting one because you know this from Lauren's version, right? And at this time, he just holds the tone. It sounds like forever. So it's almost, I'm almost laughing because he holds it for so long. I hope you'll enjoy these two songs. Do you want to say something about the orchestra as such before we listen to them?
Well, this is an orchestra that really excites modern tango musicians. You know, sometimes when you play tango music to a modern musician, they get a bit bored. It's not interesting enough for them. But Francini-Pontier rings their bells. There'll be lots of solos, first of all, because Francini is first violin and Pontier is first bandoneon. But also the pianist, is it Juan José Paz? I believe it is. So the music's passed around. There's lots of opportunity for virtuoso playing. And so a lot of variety in the music. So let's start with a bit of intellectual tango with Francini-Pontier, Remolino with Berón singing and Alma de Bohemio with Podestà singing.
Opener chosen partly for the hosts' shared memory of the Remolino Tango Festival in Ukraine.
♪ Music · 3:43 ·
Compared to Pedro Laurenz's earlier version; Podestá holds one note for an unusually long time.
A bit tricky for dancing, that one, but wow, what a control of his voice. What can I say? So we heard everything that we were thinking about in the introduction to the songs. All the little solos from Francini, very obviously, less obviously from Pontier in Francini-Pontier. Francini's name really does come first. And also from the pianist, Juan José Paz. And Francini was not out of control, as he sometimes is.
Also, we heard the variation in the Modelo de Marcación, the kind of backbeat that the band were accompanying the melodies with. But the melody shifted around quite a lot. You didn't really get a clear line to take you through as a dancer. You can dance to these. But the melodic line is less clear than other orchestras. Yeah. And Podestà does pyrotechnics there. I'd forgotten about that. Super. But it's true. I mean, it's danceable, but it's a reason this isn't often played at milongas, obviously. It's not a really good marcato there. Yeah, it's not so easy to play Francini-Pontier's music at the milonga.
But the next orchestra I will listen to is more danceable. Let's continue with a soft style, but with more muscle. Carlos Di Sarli. And you said it's a bit more of the same from him this year. So he has Durán as his singer. As his only singer? As his only singer. Is there a particular reason for that, you think? Because a lot of bands had two singers at this point. I think he just couldn't find a second one he liked, or maybe they didn't like him. Well, yeah, maybe. Yeah, but Durán has this special, uh, darker voice, right? So, uh, yes, a really dark baritone. Yeah, baritone, it's special. So let's hear him sing La Vida Me Engañó, life deceived me.
I like, uh, I like this song. It's, um, yeah, it has a charm. It has a wonderful climax of very short phrases in the melody with a great logic and the way it builds at the end of the verse up to the chorus. Yeah, beautiful melody. And handled so differently to De Angelis' version. Maybe a lot of people, I guess, aren't aware of the De Angelis recording, which comes across as much more joyful and happy, whereas this you really get the deception.
Yeah, and the second song I'll play is an instrumental. It's El Once, Di Sarli. I really like this for its wonderful cantum melodies in the second half, and they soar to the top so you can really hear them clearly. Now this particular recording, so El Once is one of the tracks, nearly all of them instrumental, that Di Sarli records three times. And this 46 recording, we almost never hear. So that's really nice to play it with everyone tonight. So let's listen out for the counter melody then in El Once. Let's go. Di Sarli.
A lament of existential despair, handled very differently to Alfredo De Angelis's more joyful version of the same song.
Danced to it
♪ Music · 3:42 ·
One of several Di Sarli instrumental versions of this piece; this 1946 take is rarely heard, with a clear countermelody.
Yeah, I count the melodies. This is Harley. Nothing better. He's the maestro. It's so different. And anyway, nowadays, maybe I wouldn't have thought that a long time ago, but such a different mood from those two. The second one is just to relax and a divertirse, to have fun, as the subtitle says. But the first one was a punch in the guts, a real lament of existential despair. La vida me engañó, life deceived me. Al ofrecerme un mundo colorosa, when it offered me a rose-tinted world. Because of course he doesn't get that. It's a tough one. La Vie en Rose, it doesn't come about. Yeah, a link back to Édith Piaf from the introduction.
Uh, Di Sarli has some really nice waltzes too, I think. So let's listen to one of those that's also with the Durán singing. Remember me. Oh, this is very beautiful, and Di Sarli recorded very few waltzes, so it's very special to have one. They're good though. I mean, sometimes difficult to make tanda out of them because they're different singers or different speeds. But yes, so few of them and so far apart. But he does continue to record waltzes at very slow tempi as well as fast ones, even into the 50s. And it's only finally in the 50s he records Sueño de Juventud, which is one of the great waltzes, and De Scheppeler wrote it as a slow waltz and he performs it as a slow waltz at a pace that's really far too slow to dance, which is a bit frustrating. And also, as you've just pointed out, makes it harder for the DJ to make a tanda from the few waltzes that we have. This early, I quit it at the end of me with Durán singing.
A rare Di Sarli waltz; the hosts praise its dark, swinging phrasing and Durán's tasteful rubato within Di Sarli's tight limits.
♪ Music · 2:28 ·
Beautiful. I miss sitting at the milonga just watching people dancing waltz. Oh man. Yeah, it fits. Uh, if it's the waltz also, this, uh, Durán's voice, I think it's like this really dark, nice swing to it. It was really nice to listen and concentrate on his phrasing because, as we know, Di Sarli didn't allow the very kind of free phrasing that we heard, for example, from Podestà at Francini-Pontier at the beginning. But he manages to stretch the rubato, to stretch the phrasing around quite a lot within the limits that Di Sarli's placing on him. So that's a bit unusual for this singer. Well, he does it. Let me put it another way. Durán does his phrasing so tastefully that it doesn't disturb. So it doesn't get to the point where the maestro is going to tell him off.
Can you say something about the lyrics that you posted? They look, I don't read Spanish well, but it seems quite sad. Hoy tal vez ni te acuerdes de mí. That's the lyric, the line of the lyric that really comes to the ear today. Perhaps you don't even remember me. Yeah, that's a bit, there's a light feeling to the waltz even with that lyric. Let's go on to the face on the event photo, Nelly Omar.
Yes, and I don't usually play a lot of Canaro from the 40s, but I remember in one of your earlier programs, Michael, yeah, we were talking about women singers, that why there are so few of them in dance tango. And at one point you said, well, we're lucky to have those recordings from 1946 to 48 of Nelly Omar singing with Canaro.
Just 10 of them. Yeah. And her voice, it's an alto voice. It fits so very beautifully with the tipica. And the arrangements are a bit different.
So Canaro's personal preference is to keep the arrangements relatively simple for dancing, unless it's one of the symphonic series numbers that he did way back in the past. And the arranger in the 40s is Mariano Mores, who's quite decorative at times, with decorative runs in the piano, for example. You start to recognise his signature as an arranger, and it's essentially a toned-down version of what he's going to do when he goes and forms his own band in the 50s.
But with these 10 songs, the styling of the arrangement is completely different. In a sense, it's more traditional. It's more Troilian, not full of little flourishes, but more complex than what Canaro normally does. And for a long time, people have wondered, well, who was the arranger then for these 10 numbers? And we don't know, but perhaps it was Morris because Morris was a great musician, great composer, so perhaps he was capable of arranging in a different style, but these 10 songs really bear a different stamp.
I agree, I mean you can still hear it's Canaro, but I agree they're a bit different. They are different, and every single one of these recordings that Nelly Omar makes is a classic. I mean, she must have known, this is the only chance I'm going to get with a tipica in my lifetime, and she seizes her chance. Adiós Pampa Mía, that's the first one, blows that out of the water, much better than the version from the stage show, which was a with, uh, Burtua Reines singing Canción Desesperada. All of them, they're great. What are we going to hear?
So let's see, two of them. First, the tango you mentioned, Adiós Pampa Mía, where Omar starts immediately with a very lyrical intro and she sings the whole song, so it's almost like a tango canción, but it's not. It's dance tango. Adiós Pampa Mía is a countryside tango. Goodbye, my pampa. Farewell. Farewell, my pampa. So that gives you permission as a tango artist to do something a little bit different. But the introduction is very, very special. The interplay between the orchestra and her voice before she comes in very, very softly. It's lovely. Lovely opening.
And after that, I want to play the waltz, Rosas de Otoño, Autumn Roses. And for me, that's a little bit of a tricky one because the Di Sarli version is one of my favorite waltzes and they have some beautiful counter melodies. But Canaro also tries some counter melodies here. It's not quite a Di Sarli standard, but I think Omar's voice, alto voice for this waltz is also magnificent.
Yeah, I mean, for Argentines, this is a waltz associated not with Di Sarli, but with a much earlier recording, the one of Carlos Gardel. And I think this one stands up very, very favorably, although in terms of arrangement, yeah, I guess I'd have to pick Di Sarli narrowly. Let's listen to them, Canaro with Nelly Omar singing Adiós Pampa Mía, tango, and then Rosas de Otoño.
Chapter · 31:45
The ten recordings that made Nelly Omar immortal
She got ten songs with a tipica orchestra in her whole career. She made every one count.
Omar's alto voice opens the song almost like a tango-canción before the dance tango proper begins; one of only about ten tipica recordings of her career.
♪ Music · 3:17 ·
Compared to Di Sarli's favourite version and the earlier Carlos Gardel recording; Omar's alto is called magnificent for this waltz.
More, more, I would have loved to hear more Nelly Omar sing with Troilo this year or even Pugliese. I think. She has a really edge to her voice. I could really imagine her with Troilo. I mean, if Troilo would record with El Beberon in the 60s, he definitely would have made a good recording with Nelly Omar. Yeah, I imagine. Even the most diehard Canaro hater cannot be, but fail. You have to be charmed by those. They're lovely. That's true.
All right, let's move on to a more rhythmical, even more rhythmical, because Rodolfo Biagi. And two weeks ago, Michael, in the 1939 program, we listened to some early Biagi, and you said something that I really captured, the Biagi style. You said that it took the surprise element that he had developed at the piano playing for D'Arienzo into the whole orchestra. What a great way to put it. I really feel that.
Yeah. Because when you're a star musician and you form your own band, there's a lot of pressure on you to feature yourself, to feature your instrument. And there are little bits of Biagi piano solo in his orchestra, but it's not what the orchestra is organised around. It's organised around other things. So I think that's a great achievement. And musically, he comes across as quite a modest person and as not obsessed with having the biggest career possible, because there's not that many recordings of Biagi in the second half of the 40s. He kind of seems to kick back and take it easy.
Yeah. And you can hear this surprise element still in 1946, although his style has changed. It's a bit slower and maybe not so much surprises as in 1939. And he has different singers too. He has Alberto Amor and Carlos Saavedra. Saavedra I really like. It's a bit of a neglected voice, I think. Yeah, and there are not so many recordings for him.
So let's hear a tango of each of them. First, Marol with Amor singing, and then Mientras Duerme la Ciudad, when the city sleeps. Oh, Marol is brilliant. Yeah, I love that one. With this very slow bandagnon note behind the voice. Yeah. In Marol, guys, listen to the way the bandagnon accompanies the voice of the singer, not with lots of notes but with hardly any, but stretched out in a very special way.
Praised for the bandoneón's very slow, stretched-out notes behind the singer's voice.
♪ Music · 3:49 ·
Discussed as a sign of the times: more space given to the singer's voice than early Biagi.
Danced to it
Of the singer is more interesting than early Biagi. Do you agree about that? Well, I do. And of course, it's 1946. So we're just hearing one of the signs of the time, second half of the 1940s. Yeah. Yeah, more meridical, more space to the voice. Yes, more space to the voice and more sophistication. I guess, yeah, other bands were perhaps accompanying the singer in a bit more interesting way already in early years, but by this time it's essential.
Yeah, and speaking of sophisticated orchestras, let's go from the pianist who let this surprising play become the mark of his own orchestra, to a band-ononist who I'd say took this introvert play and made it the mark of his orchestra. So, Aníbal Troilo. Troilo Tai! I mean, he has great singers this year also. I mean, he always has great singers. But Floreal Ruiz and Alberto Marino are both fantastic singers. They are different voices, contrasting voices. Ruiz with a Gardellian repertoire.
“Troilo just gets better and better through the 40s, really.”
Yeah, Troilo just gets better and better through the 40s, really. Yeah, although, yeah, I remember we talked about that in 47. I think it was his best year. And then in 51 again, it was the best year also. Yeah. Let's listen to two tangos. Mientras Gime el Bandoneón with Ruiz singing. That's a killer. That's a killer. It is a killer. While the bandanón moans. Mientras Gime el Bandoneón. Yeah.
And then Marino singing Sin Palabras, which is a bit of a hit this year because there are several recordings. Well, there's lots. Sin Palabras is one of the songs of the year. Yes. Okay. I like this one. It has a wonderful start, very dramatic start, the song. Yes, it's a philosophical question, isn't it? What's better when there's a Troilo and a Pugliese version of a song, which is not often tricky, but they both have strong claims. For pure drama, of course, Pugliese is going to win, but this is also superb.
So, yeah, Ruiz and Marino, they are different voices. Do you want to say something more about them before we hear them? I think people will hear the difference very clearly. Marino is the darker voice and Ruiz is the smoother voice, the rounder voice. It might make us think of Vecto Maure a little bit, although, of course, it doesn't remind you of Vecto Maure, but that kind of direction. Yeah. Let's start smooth and then go dark.
Called 'a killer' by both hosts; Ruiz brings a smoother, rounder voice than labelmate Marino.
One of the songs of the year, recorded several times; compared to Pugliese's more dramatic version, but Troilo's is also superb.
Danced to it · 5 of 61
Punch in the stomach, the lyrics of that one. Where can we go from there? Two outstanding songs, sophisticated, um, incredible. Troilo always likes to have lots of contrast in his songs, but not a sort of digital contrast where you go from one thing to the opposite, but exploring all the space in between. But there may be in the opening of, um, starts very quiet and then suddenly erupts, so much color in the music. And the Sin Palabras, I mean, even though I love the Pugliese–Morán version, I find this also extraordinary. They're different, so I think they're both best in their way. Yes, yes, the Pugliese one's more about generating those extremes. This one is more nuanced.
Yeah, all right, we'll soon pass on to, uh, maybe the highlight of tonight because of the new edition, D'Arienzo. But before that, let's have a waltz interlude. Here are a couple of waltzes. First with Alfredo De Angelis, who is not one of my favorite orchestras, I would say, but he has really great waltzes. And one of them is Pobre Flor from 1946. Yeah. And after that, I want to play a different one by a soloist, Alberto Castillo, who is accompanied by Enrique Alessio this year. And he also has some nice waltzes. One of them is in Italia.
Yeah, now Alfredo De Angelis is not fashionable as a tango orchestra, and if one likes De Angelis, one sort of whispers it in dark corners and you don't tell your friends. But in 1946 people talked about a big five, which is the big four plus De Angelis. He was huge, he was mega big, and he appealed to a different audience. He appealed to really young people. Now, of course, tango was always about young people, but the young people in the 30s had grown up. They were all 10 years older. So the new young generation, they liked De Angelis and families liked De Angelis. Very, very successful orchestra.
About an hour before the show started tonight, I posted it in the group, an advertisement from a radio program for the Glostura Tango Club. So Glostura was a very popular brand of brilliantine, which is what came before Brylcreem, when you put oil on your hair to flatten it out and look more like the Latin lover. And they sponsored a radio program beginning in 1946, which ran for years. And Alfredo De Angelis was the star of that show. So he also had the most popular tango radio show ever.
So there are some good tracks in between all the stuff that's just a bit too light and fluffy for our taste. So let's try not to lose track of the good stuff because of all the ones we don't like. Yeah, that's what I want to say about De Angelis. And also, let's not forget about the early De Angelis from 44 with Floreal Ruiz singing. Well, yes, this is the link there. Too good for the band.
Or too good to remain there without getting poached. What about Castillo? He was quite successful as a soloist or not? He was superbly successful as a soloist. The first soloist to really make a go of it. He does his own thing. He employs very good arrangers. And in some of these waltzes, he sings extremely fast as well. So full of character.
“He was superbly successful as a soloist. The first soloist to really make a go of it.”
Yeah, and these waltzes are often heard at milongas too. Yes, they are, and normally ending with the really fast one, who's I can't remember the title, temporarily escaped me. Yes, say with me, yeah. That's from 48, so we might hear that in a later program. All right, let's see those two beautiful waltzes, Pobre Flor with Ángel and that's a bit Carlos Dante y Julio Martel singing duo and Unitaria with Castillo singing backed by Enrique Alessio.
A De Angelis waltz the hosts call genuinely good, despite their reservations about the orchestra overall.
Danced to it · 5 of 371
♪ Music · 3:21 ·
Chapter · 1:02:56
The soloist who broke tango's rules
Before Alberto Castillo, singers needed an orchestra to be famous.
Castillo, tango's first truly successful solo singer, backed by Enrique Alessio's orchestra.
♪ Music · 2:02 ·
He's great with the waltzes, isn't he? Yeah, it's a great swing to those Castillo waltzes. Yeah, he's got just the right pace. It's not frantic, but not slow. It's the answer time. Yes. And we have this huge brand new smoking hot edition. Yeah, you can tell us about this, Michael. You've said this more than I have, and we're both excited about this. I said in the introduction, tell us about this.
Well, it comes to us from some of our tango friends over in Brussels, Jens Ingo Brodyser and his partner, Benedict. And then Jens Ingo's been building up his collections for quite some time, putting a lot of effort into that, and for his first release he's chosen to release some D'Arienzo, and not just a few tracks, the entire 1940s output of Juan D'Arienzo, 230 tracks. 230 tracks, fantastic. And I mean that is fantastic, but that's not what's good about it. What's good about it is that these issues have raised the bar on what's possible with 78s, because I've never heard such clear transfers from the 40s. They're really detailed but not drowning in noise.
Chapter · 1:05:53
The reissue that rewrote D'Arienzo's 1940s
A 230-track reissue landed the same week as this show.
So very often you have to make compromises. There's always some kind of compromise to make when you make a transfer, and And different companies have different philosophies. You know, we saw that quite clearly with the two big Japanese companies. CTA, just give you everything raw of the record. And if it was a really noisy record, that's what he printed. And AMP took a different philosophy. They said, no, the average person doesn't want that. They just want to put it on in their living room and listen to it. So they filtered off the high frequency scratches and did some little other bits, which made it easier to listen to, but perhaps not quite so detailed.
So there's a kind of trade-off going on all the time. And the only way to avoid that is to try and get a record that's brand new, or treat it in a way that you get as close to that as possible. And I think that's what they've done. I think that's what these guys have done. I was astonished when I listened to these, because there's so much to hear. The dynamic range is really good. The difference between the loud parts but also the quiet things that you can still hear. And the texture of the transfers is really open. You can hear through. I immediately started hearing things that I hadn't heard in the music before.
Now, turning to 1946, 1946 is a year where Laborde is, for me, D'Arienzo's best singer. And it's not been very easy to get these tracks in reasonable fidelity. And in fact, outside Japan, it's been pretty much impossible. All the CTA album from Japan, that was, that's okay but not amazing, and impossible to get. And the alternative was Época de Oro volume 6, again from Japan, a slightly different philosophy in the transfer, a bit easier to listen to but not so detailed. And here you've got everything, and what happens when you get everything is that the timbre of the singer's voice changes, because you're hearing more of it. So Laborde's voice sounds different, and the same thing is true, and we're not going to hear those tonight because tonight is 1946. When you listen to the Maure songs in these new transfers, the timbre of Maure's voice is a bit different too, because we can hear more in it. It sounds to me a little bit less soft, not quite as cuddly as I'm used to thinking of Maure's voice.
So this is great work. It was a two-year project for these guys, for Jens Ingo and Benedikt. And on their website, I'm very happy to promote to people tangotimetravel.be. Inish has just put it on there. There's some really long articles which explain how they did the transfers. And for some of those tracks they used up to six discs to get the good sound. It's amazing. So much work behind this, real dedication. But when you listen to it, guys, save up your pennies, because with 230 tracks, this is going to cost you a bit of money. It's worth it. You'll have listening pleasure for a long, long time. And yeah, this is raising the bar in what's possible. And I've only had time to listen to the 46 tracks, and compared to those I had from before, these are really outstanding. So I'm looking forward to listening through all the 230 ones.
“Guys, save up your pennies, because with 230 tracks, this is going to cost you a bit of money. It's worth it.”
Yes, me too. But I think we're particularly going to have this reaction with the late 40s numbers, because those have been the ones that have been hardest to get. Exactly. And there's almost no tango tunes also from that period. So this is really groundbreaking work, I think. Yeah. Well, naturally with D'Arienzo, you're going to start with the late 30s, because those recordings make history. So, yeah. So in addition to the tracks and vocalists, we're going to pay special attention to the sound fidelity here. I thought you, I hope you notice the difference. Yeah, I think even over Zoom you'll be able to hear something.
Yeah, so let's start with Armando Laborde, and the first song I'll play is Sin Amor, without love, and I just love the way Laborde stretches the vowels in this song. It's amazing, it really glides over. And the second tango is, it's a duet with Laborde and Echagüe, No sé llorar. Yes, there's very, very few duets in D'Arienzo's output, because it's not very manly and macho, is it? Having a duet. He did try a few in the previous year, but yes, now we get some more. And very beautiful, how those two voices combine. And it's not obvious that two voices as different as Echagüe and Laborde are going to combine well, but they really do. It's a wonderful song. I listen to the softness of the first one, Sin Amor, when it opens. Let's enjoy this too, on the new level of sound fidelity from Tango Time Travel edition.
First track showcased from the new Tango Time Travel reissue; praised for how Laborde stretches the vowels.
♪ Music · 2:37 ·
A rare D'Arienzo duet; the hosts note duets were uncommon for the orchestra, and remark on how well the two different voices combine.
Great, aren't they? Yeah, yeah. Start downloading now, folks. It's only four gigabytes. The first one, I mean, the first one was great, but it's not one any of us have ever paid any attention to, because we've only had a rubbish transfer up till now. Exactly, nice, it's beautiful. Suddenly it's like, oh wow, there's this great Lombardi tango I never even knew about. Yeah, I went to active in the tango club in Bergen on Friday last weekend, and the same day I got this and blasted some of these on high volume on this. Oh, it's wonderful, looking forward to the milongas. Yes, again, I could play these. I found myself doing that.
So I, you know, Jens Ingo very kindly allowed us to, you know, to buy these a bit ahead of the public, so we could listen to them for the show. Fantastic. And then on Saturday I took my laptop over and I met two tango friends and played some of these tracks, and we did comparisons with like, you know, five or six different transfers of the same song from different labels, and one of my friends literally screamed with pleasure. And I noticed that I started turning the music up just without even thinking about it, because it was comfortable to listen loud. It was comfortable, yeah, exactly. It doesn't have this hard sound that gets into your ears when you listen. Yeah, so great work, guys, we're really thankful to you. Wonderful.
Let's hear some more. Let's hear the instrumental tango Sábado Inglés. Ah, now this is really interesting, because Sábado Inglés is, you know, an old standard of the simple instrumental repertoire that D'Arienzo records in the 36 or something like that. I can't remember. Maybe it was even 35. Anyhow, so here it gets the Héctor Varela treatment, by which I mean the arranger works it over. So every time you think, oh yeah, it's the same old simple tango, it's not. At one point, this bass line appears that's not in the original music that really makes for a lot more of a complex dish. Yeah. And after this complex dish, let's taste some of Alberto Echagüe's singing with Con Todo Mi Corazón, with all my heart. Another classic. Yes. We're going for Sábado Inglés and then Con Todo Mi Corazón. Juan D'Arienzo.
An old standard from the mid-1930s given the Héctor Varela arranging treatment, including a new bass line not in the original.
♪ Music · 3:42 ·
A classic paired with Sábado Inglés to close out this stretch of the D'Arienzo reissue.
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♪ Music · 0:47 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Oh, I think the 40s D'Arienzo is going to get the revival with this edition. It's been a bit neglected, as you write in your D'Arienzo book. Yeah, I mean, he recorded so much, and there was never a complete D'Arienzo reissue in Argentina, only in Japan. So yeah, it's going to take a little while, because now we'll have the opportunity to explore this repertoire and make discoveries. Yeah, fantastic. So let's see, here are two final songs there. A waltz, also with Laborde and Echagüe singing together, Lo Mismo Que Ayer, the same as yesterday. And the final song, to use an expression from you, Michael, the killer instrumental milonga, La Espuela, the spur, which is this thing you have on the boot when you ride horses, right, to make them, yes, to make them gallop.
A lot of D'Arienzo's milongas, like Mucho, Mucho, for another one, have the feeling of a horse galloping. Yeah, so keep your spurs near the ground, ladies. No high boleos to this milonga. First, Lo Mismo Que Ayer. Lo Mismo Que Ayer. And then La Espuela.
A waltz duet from the new reissue, paired with the milonga La Espuela to close the D'Arienzo set.
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♪ Music · 3:14 ·
Called 'the killer instrumental milonga'; many D'Arienzo milongas carry the feel of a galloping horse, like this one.
I hope you can hear through Zoom how fantastically crisp it sounds. Just waiting to hear it on the sound system, yes. Just your way, folks. Yeah, great, fantastic work. Yeah, let's sing on Benedicta, merci beaucoup. Yeah, such, such so much work for the community and we really, really appreciate it. So where to go from here, Michael?
Well, I mean, I guess we haven't played Pugliese, so that's somewhere we can still go. Never heard of it. Yeah, we'll end with Pugliese, but before that just let's just take it down a couple of notches, because there's one orchestra that didn't record with the orchestra, actually. It's Lucio Demare. He didn't record his orchestra this year, but he has some fantastic recordings with his trio, you know, the Trio Argentino that he started in the late 20s in Europe. Yeah, and I think these recordings are from Cuba. They got a contract to go and do a little tour in Cuba and they recorded whilst they were there. That's why we have these ones. Great, I didn't know that. So it'll be like the international travel corner of the Tango By Year to Cuba this year. And it's not a trio actually, because the two songs I'm gonna play is with just Agustín Irusta singing, and the first one is the Misa de Once and the second one is Para Mí Es Igual.
I'm really curious about this because you, in the 1932 program, you dug out from somewhere a solo performance of Agustín Irusta and it was really special. I love this. They have a completely different mood than the D'Arienzos we just heard. And, uh, but, uh, yeah, uh, the, the Misa de Once, it's, it's, uh, means the 11 o'clock mass. It refers to him seeing his beloved in church, so the you hear the recurring church bells played by the Demare on the piano. And the second song, Para Mí Es Igual, it's the same, for me it's the Demare song composition, and we know it from '42 or something with Miranda singing. Two very atmospheric songs, I'd say, before we get on to the end and Pugliese. Listen to this Misa de Once and Para Mí Es Igual.
Recorded in Cuba with Demare's trio while on tour; the title refers to eleven o'clock mass, with church bells played on piano.
♪ Music · 2:19 ·
Also recorded in Cuba; Michael notes it is known from a 1942 version with Miranda singing.
Isn't that pure beauty with Demare's piano and Irusta's voice? I have to say that's brought me up short. In the first number, the piano and the voice aren't in great balance. Irusta is a lot louder than the piano in the first one. And I listened to the opening bars and I thought, Irusta, 30s voice, he sounds old fashioned. It's not the match of people like Ruiz and Marino who are singing now. And then for the final verse, he suddenly took it down really quiet and grabbed me. And the second one completely transformed the feeling that we get from the tango, because there's other versions as well, apart from Imari's version. Really an intimate portrayal and interpretation. And I'm going to be listening to that again after the show.
Yeah, thank you, very, very surprising. Yeah, so, uh, Tango Time Travel, we can have an addition with the Demare solo, solo with the singers recording, so it'll be great. It's a completely different flavor from tango music, isn't it? It's a kind of cabaret style piano. Yeah, imagine, uh, yeah, and if this was recorded in Cuba, I can imagine in a in the Havana club listening to this and over a Cuban cigar and some rum. Yeah, right. So we got towards the final orchestra for tonight, which is Osvaldo Pugliese. She also has a fantastic year, 1946. And you mentioned one of the songs and the introduction, the rumba. I guess that's, that's the marking sound of this year, actually.
Because it's so, I guess so. Do you want to say something about it before we hear it? Oh my god, what can I say about La Yumba that hasn't been said before that's, that's worth saying in this moment? What's different from Pugliese in '45 with La Yumba? Well, in 1945 we didn't have Yumba. Yumba being a made-up word to describe the beat. Yumba, Yumba, Yumba. And it's the connection, but this is not my words. Actually, let me just read this to you. La Yumba is not just the work of a notable musician. It's also an historic moment. It is the connection of Don Osvaldo to his people.
Chapter · 1:43:01
Pugliese waited three years to record this
La Yumba almost didn't happen in 1946 either.
“La Yumba is not just the work of a notable musician. It's also an historic moment. It is the connection of Don Osvaldo to his people.”
Are you reading from your own book now? I am, but only because that's where I keep the quote to hand. Yeah. Yeah, it's a very special composition. Do you dance to this? What? Of course. What do you mean, do I dance to this? What kind of a question is that? And of the recordings that we have, I prefer this one. The bass is not as strong as it will be later.
So in 1952 Pugliese records this again. On the '52 recording it's the first time that Odeon is using tape masters and the engineer saturates the tape. You can hear he's turned the volume up too loud. So even though the bass is not so powerful in the '46, I really prefer it, and the organisation of the music, it's so logical. It's like Bach, the structure of the piece. And it's stunning in a way that it's successful as it is, because it's not a melody you can hum. That's one of the problems about what Pugliese does with his music. It's, it's intellectual but without being cerebral, beautifully constructed, really reaches the emotions but not tuneful. La Yumba is not tuneful, not one you whistle in the street. You walk it in the streets. Yeah, that's right. So let's listen to Johan Sebastian Bach, La Yumba.
“It's intellectual but without being cerebral, beautifully constructed, really reaches the emotions but not tuneful.”
The defining recording of the year; Michael reads from his own book to describe its historic significance.
Danced to it
♪ Music · 2:30 ·
Was this popular in Buenos Aires in 1946? How was it perceived? I don't know. How was it perceived? No. It made waves. Yeah, it must have, yeah. That's for sure. But I think for the broader tango musician community, it was clear that Pugliese had now set off in his own path. So a tango like Recuerdo was universally admired. But Troilo could perform Recuerdo and do it in a Troilo style. And he did in 1940, just when he didn't have a record contract. But Troilo can't perform La Yumba. You know, it belongs to Pugliese, which makes it all the more remarkable that Francini-Pontier had a go. They produce a version, but it doesn't have any Yumba feeling to it.
Chapter · 1:47:39
Why Troilo could never record La Yumba
Some tangos belong to everyone. This one belongs to one man.
“Troilo can't perform La Yumba, it belongs to Pugliese.”
Okay, so, but the Pugliese orchestra also has great singers, and let's listen to one song with Roberto Chanel, Tiempo, which is a nice one, and after that we'll hear some Morán. But first Tiempo. And Chanel has this nasal street voice you've been talking about, Michael. A street voice, but with class. Ah, street voice with class. Classy street voice. That's Chanel. Chanel. Tiempo.
Chapter · 1:49:03
Banned from the stage: why Pugliese's singer quit
The government tried to erase an entire orchestra.
Chanel's nasal street voice described as having class; one of his songs with Pugliese before he later quit the orchestra.
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♪ Music · 2:12 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Chanel. I love him. So sad that he left the orchestra. You know why he left? Any particular reason? He was frightened. It was in 1948. The government really tried to, Pugliese used the word borrar, to erase the orchestra. They were banned in the whole country. The government stopped them from working.
So when they were touring in the provinces, the police would turn up and stop them from working, stop the concerts from taking place. And then finally, they went to a club on Corrientes and the police wouldn't let them perform. So at that point, people thought, well, that's it. And they're working musicians. They want to put bread on the table and feed their families. And Chanel quit. But we have Morán singing with him still at this point, and of course Rivero comes, no, not Rivero, but Vidal comes in later.
So let's hear a couple of songs with Morán, which I'm going to submit is one of my favourite overall singers and maybe my favourite with Pugliese. This year he records two or more than two beautiful songs, but we'll hear two. Demasiado Tarde and Una Vez. Now, Demasiado Tarde, the thing to notice is that it's got the drop. The drop is a term used by club DJs to describe the point where a song really shifts into gear.
So Demasiado Tarde starts off quite gently, and then the left hand of the piano goes dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, and then the whole thing just kicks off. That's the point to listen to. And Una Vez, much more lyrical. Again, an important song from the year. Yeah, and that's Pugliese's own composition, I think, Una Vez. Pugliese, Morán. Enjoy.
Noted for its 'drop' — a quiet opening before the piano's left hand kicks the whole arrangement into gear.
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♪ Music · 2:44 ·
A more lyrical Pugliese-Morán composition, paired with Demasiado Tarde as two important songs of the year.
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♪ Music · 2:41 ·
Michael. I'm afraid so. We're enjoying ourselves this night anyway. So it's just, yes. And there's more good music to come. There is.
You thought you're thinking about the after party or the Cumparsita now? Well, I'm thinking, am I allowed to talk about the Cumparsita? Yeah, sure. Yeah. I mean, I don't know what you're going to play, obviously, and I don't research the composites as you do, but I'm wondering if it might perhaps be D'Agostino.
It is, of course. Because that's another big name orchestra that we haven't heard anything from yet tonight. Exactly. And it's the last year where Vargas records with D'Agostino. So there are other versions, but I think this is the best one. And you can also hear some of D'Agostino's really nice piano play in the introduction. Yeah, that crystalline piano that he has. Exactly, yeah.
So before I play that, thanks to everyone for listening, and especially thanks to Benedikt and Jens Ingo for their marvelous Taranzo edition. Yes, thank you, guys. Thank you. Yeah, we really, really appreciate your hard work. We know it's not for the money. It's just an amazing amount of work, but it's so important that some people do this for everyone. Guys, if you could afford it, just buy it, you won't be sorry, and I hope we'll get more from that label, some intriguing little pictures on their website of some other albums, so I'm very curious. Can't wait.
And thanks to our sponsors, Tango Brasso and Tango Norfolk and the Marabou nightclub in Buenos Aires. Yes, thank you so much to them. So and see you in two weeks and I think we'll go to the 50s this time. Get a bit of contrast and I'm thinking 1954. Big year. Big year for Tango. Morán's last recordings with Pugliese, great recordings of Di Sarli. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking forward to that. So, good night.
Yeah, I think there's going to be an after party. I mean, I've got a list here of stuff you didn't play. I'm sure you have, as always. But first, let's see D'Agostino's La Cumparsita with Vargas singing. Lovely. Thank you so much, Dag. Thank you.
The last year Vargas recorded with D'Agostino; chosen partly to showcase D'Agostino's crystalline piano introduction.
Danced to it
♪ Music · 2:30 · The lyrics, on the song's page
So that's it, I'll stop sharing, Michael, and you can, that's it, put on a cortina, that's it. Someone's just complaining that you only play for two hours. That's the post-duration of this program. I know, it's a two-hour program, and someone's complaining you only play for two hours.
Lovely music. Thank you so much, Dag, and of course to Yenzingo and Benedict, and to our sponsors. So I'll just pop on a couple of Cortina kind of things so you can all go and get another glass of water or a glass of something stronger, whatever you like. So there's some interesting choices for what I could play at this moment. I mean, there's some early Frank Sinatra recordings, but they're a bit soft. They're ballads, so it's not really the moment.
But I had a choice between, on the left, Louis Jordan, and on the right, Arsenio Rodriguez. Louis Jordan, great Afro-American musician, invented the jump jive, which is kind of the forerunner of rock and roll, and he released a couple of songs in 1946 that were number one for 17 and 18 weeks, respectively. So Louis Jordan was number one for 35 weeks out of 52 in 1946. But I'm not going to play him either. You can listen to that afterwards, songs like Choo Choo Ch'Boogie or Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens. Those were the two, 35 weeks at number one with two songs. Can you imagine that today? Inconceivable. Instead, for our drinks break, I'm going to play you Arsenio Rodriguez.
Now, Arsenio Rodriguez, the best Cuban band of the 40s, in my opinion. And it played for the black audience and not the white audience. And that's why they weren't that successful compared to certain other bands. But it's the most African sounding band. Arsenio Rodriguez is a tres player. So the instrument you hear that sounds a bit like a guitar, a bit like a 12 string guitar, but obviously isn't, that's the tres, which is a small guitar with three doubled strings, played on a very, very high tension. I will play for you. First of all, Cangrejo Fue a Estudiar, which means Crabb went to university. Crabb went to study, followed by Chicharronero, and I don't know what that means. So here we go. Arsenio Rodriguez, groove out or go and get yourselves a drink.
A Cuban interval pick (not tango) for the drinks break, chosen over Louis Jordan; praised for the tres playing.
♪ Music · 2:16 ·
World-class playing. Lili Martín is the pianist. There were three great pianists in Cuban music and we only know Ruben Gonzalez because all the others had died by the time the music reached the revival. But Lilia Martinez, the pianist in this band, the equal of Ruben Gonzalez. Slightly different style and fantastic trumpet playing as well. So one more before we get really going.
Second Arsenio Rodríguez interval track; pianist Lilia Martínez is called the equal of Rubén González.
Right, let's listen to some tango. I'd like to play one more track by D'Agostino, another milonga, because I think we only heard one milonga so far tonight. So, yeah, let's not start with the big guns. This is El Morocho y el Oriental. El Morocho, the dark one and El Oriental referring to Gardel and Razzano because Razzano was from Uruguay and people from Uruguay are called Oriental because that's the full name of the country, the Oriental Eastern, the Eastern Republic of Uruguay. So just one more track of D'Agostino and then we're going to listen to some Ignacio Corsini.
Named for nicknames of Carlos Gardel ('El Morocho') and José Razzano ('El Oriental', from Uruguay).
♪ Music · 2:38 ·
Introduced only as 'some Ignacio Corsini'; no specific title was announced before playback.
I've played a few numbers. If you want to listen to more, I'd suggest Marol. Very beautiful interpretation of Francini-Pontier. But there were two others as well that we haven't yet heard. Osmar Maderna and Astor Piazzolla, who had his Typica from 46 to 48. So let's just listen to one number from Piazzolla's Typica. It's one of the instrumentals. I think he's strongest in the instrumentals in his Typica. The 46 orchestra people call it sometimes and there are very few of them because following the fashion of the time he records mostly vocal numbers which to us sound a bit too complex. There's just too much going on but in the instrumentals that problem goes away. Now the track we're going to hear is El Recodo of Alejandro Giunisi. Have a listen to this.
An instrumental from Piazzolla's short-lived 1946 Típica; Michael says the instrumentals age better than the more cluttered vocal numbers.
♪ Music · 1:40 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Hot damn! If you haven't heard that before, I think you had a bit of a surprise. So the other orchestra that started recording is that of Osmar Maderna, who was the pianist in Miguel Calo's orchestra and also the arranger for many years. So what do we know about his style. It was light and diaphanous and there's something of that in his work with his own orchestra. But the piano takes a much bigger role. Some may say too big a role but I don't want to let the year go by without playing just one. So here for example is Maderna's arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Flight of the Bumblebee for Tango Orchestra and Tango Piano. And it's the piano that's singing.
Chapter · 2:24:31
The orchestra where the piano sings
In this orchestra, the piano is the voice.
“Whenever you listen to music, ask yourself who's singing. But in Moderna's orchestra, the singer is Moderna.”
This is something that Wachowski points out to us. Whenever you listen to music, ask yourself who's singing. So it could be that the singer is singing, or when Troilo takes a solo, Troilo is singing, and so on. The person who's really conveying the melody. But in Maderna's orchestra, the singer is Maderna.
Maderna's tango-orchestra arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, with the piano carrying the melody.
♪ Music · 1:59 ·
I think we can all agree that was mad. Now, speaking of madness, why don't we listen to the 1946 La Loca of D'Arienzo? Because we can.
Now, La Loca is recorded three times by D'Arienzo. 42, 46 and 55. And most of us only know the 55 because that's the one recorded on Taint Masters. And it's the brightest and shiniest. Although I guess we've also seen what the later TV recording from 67 or something like that, because we can watch the orchestra live.
Now, 42 and 46 are also good. The 42 one in the new release is just draw dropping. I also screamed when I heard that for the first time, but it's not 1942 tonight. It's 1946. Now, don't think it's going to be as exciting as the 55. It isn't.
And if the 55 is your favourite, try not to be disappointed, but listen to the special quality of this, because now you've got a pretty easy comparison to make. The La Loca in your head and the 46 version, and it will really give us all a feeling of the quality of 46 as a year. Yeah?
D'Arienzo recorded La Loca three times (1942, 1946, 1955); this 1946 version is more spacious and restrained than the famous 1955 take.
♪ Music · 2:30 ·
Bit of a different feeling, huh? Yes, slower, a bit restrained even, compared to the exuberance of the 55 recording. More spacious, a little bit more phrased. So we've heard lots of D'Arienzo, and you can do that after the show as well. We haven't heard any Tanturi yet tonight. Goodness.
Now, Tanturi's got different singers. He has Campos, Enrique Campos, at the beginning of the year, but he goes, and then we get Osvaldo Ribó and Roberto Videla. So let's play one of each, starting off with Sombras with Osvaldo Ribó.
Tanturi's singers changed during the year, from Enrique Campos to Ribó and Roberto Videla; this is Ribó's turn.
♪ Music · 2:26 ·
So, pretty good, huh? These are the tango tunes transfers from their 46 to 50 album. Not so easy. Indeed, as with all the bands, often not so easy to get this in good quality. Now let's hear something from Roberto Videla. Let's try Como Aquella Muñeca.
The second Tanturi singer featured, after Ribó.
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♪ Music · 2:23 ·
Chapter · 2:38:05
Drink Di Sarli: tango's most reliable brand
You can never go wrong with Di Sarli - it's practically an advertising slogan.
“You can never go wrong with Di Sali. Should be like an advertising slogan. Drink Di Sali. The perfect tango for every occasion.”
OK, it's Di Sarli time now, because you can't go wrong with Di Sarli. You can never go wrong with Di Sarli. Should be like an advertising slogan, isn't it, for one of those drinks that's good for every occasion. Di Sarli is like that. Drink Di Sarli. The perfect tango for every occasion.
Now, where should we start? Because I know where I'm going to finish. I really know where I'm going to finish. Let's start with some instrumentals. Because these later ones we don't hear so much, these late 40s ones. Let's start, for example, with the 1946 El Pollo Ricardo.
A later, less-played Di Sarli instrumental; praised for the left-hand piano and closing pizzicato.
♪ Music · 5:00 ·
Fantastic! The left hand of Di Sarli and the little pizzicato. I don't know if you caught that at the end there. So now I want to play some Duran and I think I want to play quite a lot. So if I start playing too much, you can type in the chat window and say, Mike, enough already. But there's just so much good Di Sarli Duran from 46. So let's start with one that I think we all know, Así Era Mi Novia. My girlfriend was like that.
Introduced as one everybody already knows, opening a run of several Di Sarli-Durán tracks.
♪ Music · 2:52 ·
This next one I think is a bit of a neglected masterpiece, not one I hear nearly often enough when I'm out and about. This is Cosas de Tango.
Called a neglected masterpiece that doesn't get played at milongas nearly often enough.
♪ Music · 2:27 ·
Just one more Duran, the most essential Di Sarli Duran track ever. We have to listen to Duelo Criollo. Amazingly strong arrastre. Just listen to the way they really attack the beats. It's not just Pugliese who did that. Di Sarli did it as well and you can really hear it in this. There's a later recording. They're both very nice but tonight's 46 so here's the 46 Creole Duel, a knife fight to the death.
Called the most essential Di Sarli-Durán track, with an amazingly strong arrastre comparable to Pugliese's attack on the beat.
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♪ Music · 2:29 ·
That's great, isn't it? One of the most powerful arrastres ever recorded. So before we explode, just let's lighten up a bit, I want to play one Canaro waltz. You weren't expecting that, were you? with the voice of Enrique Lucero. This is Dos Almas, Two Souls.
A lighter Canaro waltz played before the closing run of Pugliese and Troilo; the hosts admit the transfer quality isn't great.
♪ Music · 2:45 ·
Really delicate in places, huh? Very nice. A lot of you like that. And let's be honest, the transfer wasn't that great. So if someone's got a better one, Jens Ingo, are you still with us? Do you happen to have a better condition record of Dos Almas? We'd love to hear it.
So now we're getting near the end of the after party and I'm going to play a little bit of Pugliese, a little bit of Troilo, then a surprise and then that's the end. Pugliese, what should we have? I think I wanted to play the Sin Palabras, but then I remembered it's from 1947. And we're sticking to our formula because that makes us who we are, so we're not breaking the formula. Sorry, no Pugliese Sin Palabras tonight. It's going to be in another show.
Let's start with Príncipe with Alberto Morán. One of the unusual things about this tango is that Morán starts singing from the very beginning. And I don't mean like after half a minute, I mean after a few seconds, because he's got a lot of words to get through. And the opening is very delicate, which is not that common with Morán numbers. Príncipe means prince, and he sings, I was a prince. I had a home and a love. But of course, he blew it. It's a typical tango story, eh?
Unusual for having Morán sing from the very first few seconds, with an unusually delicate opening for him.
Danced to it
♪ Music · 1:58 ·
Isn't that beautifully delicate? Now another delicate Pugliese number from 1946. It's a bit of a theme for the year isn't it? There are some delicate songs. A duet, a very rare duet of Alberto Morán and Roberto Chanel and it's about something that quite a few of us did today, which was watching the rain.
A rare duet described only as being about watching the rain; no title was stated before playback.
♪ Music · 2:05 ·
Yeah, that's special, huh? Really special. Now, we've already heard La Yumba, but if I were forced to choose only two Pugliese numbers from 1946, I would choose La Yumba and for the second one, something we haven't yet heard. Something which for me is the most opposite. Can I say the most opposite? I can't, that's meaningless. The furthest away, in terms of Pugliese's repertoire, than La Yumba.
Now, why isn't a delicate duet like Miranda La Juvia the opposite that I choose? Because I want to choose something that's even more lyrical. The thing about La Yumba is it's not lyrical. It doesn't have a tune. You can't hum it. So when I'm looking for the opposite within the Pugliese repertoire, I'm looking for the most intensely lyrical piece that he performs in 1946. And for me, absolutely no doubt, it has to be Fuimos with Roberto Chanel.
Intense. It's like a really strong red wine. And a very unusual lyric. If you're interested in the lyrics, go and check it out. Very strong images.
Chosen by Michael as the most lyrical Pugliese piece of 1946, the deliberate opposite of La Yumba.
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♪ Music · 1:32 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Isn't that the sweetest? Beautiful ending. Did you hear Pugliese playing these delicate notes high on the piano underneath the voice at the end?
So now it's time for a couple of Troilo numbers. Now, what did Dag play earlier? What does it say here? Yes, he played some real power numbers, didn't he? Mientras Gime el Bandoneón, and Sin Palabras. Now I want to play one more power number and one softer one. And the power number, another favourite of all of us, Mi Tango Triste.
Billed as 'one more power number' to pair with the softer Tarde Gris.
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♪ Music · 3:06 · The lyrics, on the song's page
For those of you who don't speak Spanish, first of all, there's a beautiful comment in the chat window from Sylvia, who says, I've brought out the heavy artillery. It's stunning, isn't it?
And it's got a hook. There's that little phrase in the melody. And every time you hear that you know you're going to get a really good bit of the lyric. And it occurs in two different spots. The first time you get If wiste tu? And you were. You were the one who brought brightness to my loneliness.
But then the second time It's too late now. Actually it doesn't say it's too late, it says it's very late. It's really late now to come back crying. Was it too late? We don't know. The lyric doesn't tell us.
Now, one more Troilo, and then we'll have to wrap up the evening. Now, this is a tango not so well known, I don't think. With Ruiz's voice, we had Marino just now. Soft and subtle, this is another autumnal tango, grey afternoon. Tarde Gris.
A soft, subtle, lesser-known autumnal tango, 'heartbreakingly beautiful and not played enough.'
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♪ Music · 2:06 ·
So beautiful. Heartbreakingly beautiful and not played enough. So we can all do something about it. So now before the credits, it's time for what the Dutch call the dutje, the little surprise treat. And that's going to be Clair de Lune, the piano piece performed by the pianist, Josef Hoffman, who probably most of you will never have heard of.
Hoffman was a Polish American pianist. He was a child prodigy in the 1900s. And he was embarked on this huge concert tour and somebody stepped in and paid for him not to play. Because to be a seven year old touring the world, playing the piano, it's not really very healthy and he's way past his best by 1946, by all accounts. People who heard him play said, oh, he's much better in the 20s. And he gave up not long after this.
He did teach a number of other great pianists like Churraski and one or two others who made a career as concert pianists, which interpretation of a classical piece is something always deeply personal. But this absolutely gets to me. Such a subtle interpretation. So turn the volume up for that and then we'll play straight out with our Norwegian theme song.
Thank you very much Dag and all of you for joining us. It's been a really super evening, really super. We'll see you in two weeks time and it sounds like that will be for 1954. In the meantime, Josef Hoffmann, Clair de Lune.
A closing classical surprise: Debussy's piano piece performed by Josef Hofmann, a Polish-American former child prodigy.
♪ Music · 5:30 ·
Tango By Year is Dag Stenvoll and Michael Lavocah's, published here with their permission. The audio plays from SoundCloud.