Story sent by Oscar Mármol – 14/5/2001

JUAN D'ARIENZO

 

One of the most important cultural manifestations of our country is, undoubtedly, Tango music. Until 1930 there were two well-defined leaders: Francisco Canaro and Roberto Firpo. However, there alsowere young and talented musicians who had been struggling since the 20s, to have a place in tango. Some of them were Julio de Caro, Juan D’Arienzo and Osvaldo Fresedo. De Caro and Fresedo were the tress from where branches as Osvaldo Pugliese and Carlos Di Sarli grew. These musicians would later on be some of the architects that built the tango revolution known as “The golden age”. The case of Juan D’Arienzo deserves to be analysed separately, because I think he was the great “Tango revolutionary”: D’Arienzo began his career as a violinist and co-director of an orchestra with D’Agostino, around 1918. In 1928, now as an independent director, Carlos Dante joined his orchestra as the main vocalist, who would record more than 20 songs with the orchestra. D’Arienzo had always been faithful to the traditional musical forms, but in 1935, a young pianist called Rodolfo Biaggi, joined his orchestra and gave it a whole new perspective, since he was very talented. The audience perceived this new magnetism, and loved it, because people wanted to express when dancing what tangos, milongas and waltzes made them feel. This phenomenon made the other orchestras give more speed to their interpretations, trying to imitate the nervousness of D’Arienzo’s rhythm, since that was what the audience wanted. The golden age of Tango, around the 1940s, owes D’Arienzo very much, because he was responsible for the turning point that made real what Discépolo had said years before: “The tango is a danced feeling”. Nevertheless, Juan D’Arienzo also had detractors, who closed themselves in useless discussions about whose talent was bigger: Troilo’s, Pugliese’s or Di Sarli’s, and couldn’t realize that they all were excellent musicians, who left recordings that we can still enjoy. But one thing we can not deny, and it is that this director had as a constant concern during his career, the purpose of perfecting Tango rhythm. That’s why when Biaggi left his orchestra, he replaced him with Fulvio Salamanca, a young pianist that would be responsible for perfecting the brilliant and unmistakable piano style of the orchestra. The importance of the career of D’Arienzo is also reflected on commercial terms: during all his career he sold over 2 million copies of his tango “La cumparsita”, which is something extraordinary in Tango business. The official introducer at the Chantecler Cabaret, Ángel Sánchez Carreño (“The Cuban prince”), baptized him as “The king of compass”, and he wasn’t wrong. Wherever he would play, the presence of thousands of admirers was assured, so high his popularity was. We can not forget the emblematic singers that accompanied his orchestra: Héctor Maure, Alberto Echagüe and Armando Laborde, who recorded with the orchestra some jewels that we still enjoy nowadays. Juan was a real teacher for his singers. To affirm this we only have to remember how, during a show, he used to stand next to the singer and tell him when to begin singing, when to do the pauses and the silences, while, at the same time, he directed his musicians. More that 50 years of career, tell us that he was, undoubtedly, one of the greatest tango artists. I had the privilege of knowing him when he was already very old, and I remember him as a good man, who liked to help his friends when they were not in good situations, and who was disturbed by those annoying journalists who wanted to investigate about his private life.

With affection, 

Oscar Mármol