Troilo’s bandoneón

Lavocah described Troilo as a capable player whose reputation rested chiefly on feeling. ^[1] José Votti, a violinist in Troilo’s orchestra in the 1950s, said he had never heard him miss a note; Néstor Marconi considered Troilo’s technique suited to his style. ^[1] Domingo Mattio, who joined the orchestra in 1947, recalled the impact of Troilo’s solos in “Chique,” “Inspiración,” and “La cumparsita.” ^[1]

Lavocah identified Pedro Maffia, Ciriaco Ortiz, and Pedro Laurenz as the three earlier bandoneon players whose styles Troilo’s contemporaries heard in his playing. ^[2] Maffia’s smooth phrasing and subdued tone influenced both Troilo’s playing and his approach to performance: in a noisy cabaret, he had the orchestra begin quietly and increase its volume after the audience began listening. ^[2]

Ortiz’s influence appeared in a conversational style of phrasing, with small flourishes at the ends of phrases. ^[2] Lavocah connected that sound to octave phrasing and said Ortiz’s way of blending an upper octave note into the root note could be heard more readily in later recordings of the Troilo–Grela quartet. ^[3] Laurenz’s influence appeared in the agile playing on the Vardaro–Pugliese sextet’s 1933 recording of “Tigre viejo” and in the bright sound of Troilo’s early orchestra. ^[3]

Leopoldo Federico thought the familiar praise of Troilo’s “two notes” still understated his playing; Piazzolla and Pascual Mamone likewise emphasized the effect of very few notes. ^[2] Lavocah described Troilo performing with his eyes half closed and attributed his connection with audiences to the human feeling in his playing. ^[3] Troilo later said that, when forming his orchestra, he wanted its instruments to phrase together in the manner of Gardel. ^[4]

An account of Troilo’s surviving orchestra arrangements described his economy on the page as well as in performance: in a Piazzolla arrangement, whole bars had been crossed out and replaced with brief directions such as “solo” or “canto.” ^[5]

Lavocah reported that a 1970 transfer for an LP reissue removed about fifteen seconds from Troilo’s bandoneon solo in the 1942 recording of “Colorao, Colorao” because of noise on the source record. ^[6] He wrote that later CD reissues used those LP transfers, so the shortened solo persisted in them. ^[7]