In the 70s, I got a phone call from Arturo Penón who,
at that time, was the first bandoneon in Osvaldo Pugliese’s orchestra and
who also took care of the hiring business of the group.
The reason why he was calling was that dr. Ovidio Lagos, owner of the
newspaper “La Capital” from Rosario and a great fan of Osvaldo, had
contacted them to perform at the most important theatre in Rosario, on one
of the following weekends. He also asked
them to add to his repertory “The short road” and “The little
handkerchief”, which had both been very successful in the voice of Jorge
Maciel.
Unfortunately, Maciel was no longer among us, so Pugliese said “Let’s
ask Rufino to join us for this show. He can perfectly replace Maciel because
of his baritone voice”. That was the reason of the phone call: to propose
Rufino to sing those tangos at the performance. Rufino accepted and said
that it would be an honour for him to sing with Pugliese. Of course, the
economic subject was not discussed. We knew Pugliese’s orchestra was a
co-operative and that Rufino would receive the proportional part that
belonged to him. I remember that we went to Rosario very early on Saturday:
Roberto, his wife Perla and Rolo, a tango lover that was taking us in his
car. Since Roberto was very careful with his work, I kept thinking about the
musical arrangements he used to do before singing a tango for the first
time. I asked him “Roberto, what happened with the musical arrangements to
‘The short road’ and ‘The little handkerchief’?”. Respectfully, he
stared at me and didn’t answer, as if he was saying to me “What are you
asking me about?”. I stopped talking, but I still didn’t understand how
Roberto was going to sing with Pugliese’s orchestra without any rehearsal.
I remember the theatre was crowded. When it was time for the show to begin,
Pugliese started to play “Arrabal”, the tango by Pascual Contursi. After
that, many important singers performed: Abel Córdoba, “el Negro”
Belusi, Cobos and “el Flaco” Morán. It was a unique experience, and the
audience was standing up, applauding. But
I still couldn’t figure out where Roberto would fit in the show. Of
course, Rufino was supposed to perform at the end of the show, singing the
tangos Lagos had asked for. Pugliese had decided that, as a way of thanking
him. What happened next was so
moving that I saw people crying. All the lights of the theatre were turned
off, the orchestra began to play the first notes of “The little
handkerchief” with the solo by Arturo Penón
and a spotlight shed a light on Roberto, who came out from one side
of the stage singing “El pañuelito blanco, que te ofrecí…” (“The
little white handkerchief, that I offered you…”), and all the orchestra
behind him, playing with that strength that only Osvaldo could transmit. I
have to say that it was just like a dream, all the people was standing,
asking for another song. I had never felt such a strong emotion because of
Tango, and I haven’t, since then. In that moment I remembered the
conversation we had had in the car, when we were travelling to Rosario, when
I asked him about the musical arrangements, and he didn’t answered me. I
realized, that both Roberto and Osvaldo had a gift, as only geniuses had. I
understood that Roberto’s voice was like one of the instruments of the
orchestra. I could never understand why there are no recordings of that
show, which was, in my opinion, an invaluable episode in our tango history.
With
affection,
