-
 Violin
player, director and composer.
- He
was born on November 16th, 1888 in San José de Mayo, Uruguay, the son of an Italian inmigrant
who, because of their economic difficulties, decided to come to Buenos Aires. Canaro
had to work since he was very young. When he was a teenager he began
working in an oil tin factory. But his musical calling was very strong and
made
him improvise a violin with an oil tin from the factory he worked in. With
a wooden mast he did the tuning fork
and he also used an improvised arch, but the instrument was usefull to
began learning until he could afford a real violin. He made his debut with Vicente
Loduca and Samuel Castriota at the corner of Suarez and Necochea streets
in La Boca suburb. In 1910 he was a member of a group directed by Vicente
Greco. Some time later he formed a trio with the piano player José Martinez and the
bandoneon player Pedro Polito. In 1925 he made his debut with his
orchestra in Paris,
where his musicians had to be dressed up like
"Gauchos". In 1940 he obtained the Argentine citizenship, that
was his way of thanking Argentina for everything he had been given.
His nickname was "Pirincho" and his orchestra was one of the
most renowned of Argentina. According to Horacio Ferrer "He mantained
through all his instancies an unmistakable sonority". Some of his tangos were:
"Tiempos viejos" ("Old times") (Lyrics by Manuel Romero, 1926);
"Madreselvas ("Honeysuckle") (Lyrics by Luis César Amadori, 1930); "¿Donde
hay un mango?" ("Where is the money?") (Lyrics by Ivo Pelay, 1933). He died
on December 14th, 1964.
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