It snowed in Buenos Aires today. Cold, wet heavy. (See it in traffic. See it in a park.)This makes tangueros’ hearts light.
Why? Because, as Alberto explains: “The only memories of a snow fall in Buenos Aires date back to 1918 and 1955, that is why poet Raul Gonzalez Tuñon once wrote about Gardel,
“Nobody has surpassed his touching voice, on the face of a record or in the rose of the air. Perhaps, when the snow falls again over our city, another voice may come close to match his.”
Perhaps he exaggerated. I went exploring online to see.
Wow!
Listen:
- Mi Noche Triste, the first tango he sang. The 1917 version is so romantic you want to swoon 90 years later. The 1930 version is meaty. (Get the lyrics, and more info about sentimental tangos.)
- Volver from the movie El Dia que me quieras.
- Tomo y obligo, the last tango he performed, hours before his tragic death.
Watch a movie clip: Gardel dances beautifully.
Gardel on Singing and Living Tango
“It is not enough to have the most melodious voice to intone a tango. No. In addition, it is necessary to feel it. One has to live in its spirit.
“I live it, I feel it in the sweet glance of a beautiful and well-endowed woman who sees me drive by in my fast "voiturette" I know that I am the tango when after leaving the racetrack the crowd of men follow me with their glances; I am not deceived when the tailor takes pains to make me his best suit or the saleswoman looks for the prettiest necktie for me.
I know that the tribute is to the tango. I am for them the tango. And I like it, because I feel more like I belong here.
Even though I intone a sweet French song, even though people listen to my beautiful notes of "Parlez moi D'Amour", I know that I am the singer of tangos who lends himself for other songs. (Gardel's comment for: Noticias Gráficas, Buenos Aires, Sept. 21, 1933). From Gardel Web
The Story of a Legend
From Gardel’s Eternal Smile, by Alberto Paz
Untimely Death
It was during a promotional tour for his latest film, El dia que quieras, that Gardel and Lepera met their untimely deaths. First Puerto Rico, then Cuba and finally Colombia were visits that attracted large crowds eager to see, touch and listen to Carlos Gardel.
Towards the end of the tour, Gardel and his entourage boarded a plane at Medellin airport for a short flight to Cali, where he would make his final appearance on a radio program before returning to New York, in time to board a ship to Buenos Aires to fulfill a promise he had made to his mother, that is spending more time with her.
The aircraft never got completely airborne as it suddenly veered of course and slammed into another aircraft waiting to enter the runway. Among a twisted pile of melting metal and an infernal blaze, Gardel ended his mortal existence.
Gardel’s Early Life
Carlos Gardel began singing at a very young age. Raised in poverty and with limited means of survival, he managed to get singing gigs at weddings, birthdays and other family receptions. His repertoire was mostly made out of Creole compositions, a genre that included folk songs and rural milongas typically accompanied by one or more guitars.
Gradually he began to hang out at some seedy cantinas surrounding the old Mercado de Abasto, a sort of central wholesale market. Visitors today may have noticed a subway station under Corrientes Avenue named after Gardel. A super modern shopping center stands on the grounds of the old Mercado de Abasto.
At one of those cantinas he faced Uruguayan folk singer Jose Razzano in what supposed to be a duel for supremacy and ended up becoming a sensational duo that began performing at theaters, clubs, and cabarets around the country and in neighboring Uruguay.
Gardel’s First Tango
The story goes that sometime in 1917 Gardel was approached in Montevideo by a street poet with a penchant for writing risky lyrics to existing Tango music. Gardel loved what Pascual Contursi had written for a Tango named Lita composed by Samuel Castriota. In private gatherings he was amused at Contursi's clever use of lunfardo expressions to describe the sappy tale of a pimp in love who laid awake at night hoping for the return of his former whore.
It began with, Percanta que me amuraste, en lo mejor de mi vida... Woman who left me at the best moment of my life; and ended with, Porque tu luz no ha querido, mi noche triste alumbrar... Because your light (talking about a lamp in the room) has not wanted to illuminate my sad night. And those three last words became the title of the first recognized Tango lyrics, and the onset of a rich chapter in the glorious book of Tango history.
Going against the advice of his friends, Gardel decided to take a chance and sung the Tango (his first in public) at a theater performance. Razzano bailed out, and Carlos Gardel made history by singing Mi noche triste in public, sending the audience into a frenzy standing ovation. What followed was a body of work touching on tales of love, hate, infidelity, and passional crimes depicting the fictional relationships between pimps and their whores. Record companies couldn't press enough vinyl to keep up with the demand, and many popular bards followed Contursi's suit and inundated the market with one of the most prolific productions in Tango history.
Translated Lyrics to Gardel's last tango:
TOMO Y OBLIGO: I drink, and you must drink too. Order a drink! Its no good talking about women, none of them give any reward. Don't fall in love, but if it happens, have courage! Suffer it, don't cry. A truly macho man must never cry.
Gardel in Colombia shortly before his tragic death.
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