1905, June 18 – BIRTH OF ELVINO VARDARO
Violinist, Leader (Gemini) – he was twenty fours years old when he formed “The Vardaro Pugliese Orchestra”; it was a dream come true…with great fanfare and promise and including a wide-eyed Anibal Troilo the group debuted at the Cafe Nacional to an ecstatic reception…but the dream was to turn into a nightmare when embarking a long tour of Argentina, the lack of proper organization and management not only resulted in the curtailing of the tour and the dismemberment of the group, but Elvino had to pawn his “Sartoris Bow” to be able to buy train fare back home….like Elvino, the protagonist in Bellini’s “La Sonnambula” after whom his father named him who sings “all is lost, nothing can be done, my heart is dead to joy and love”, he went through a period of great despair…but Elvino would not only survive but go on to have a diverse and exciting career as few tango musicians would ever have…tango historians often refer to “the Vardaro school” to describe musicians and events
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Elvino Vardaro grew up in the Abasto neighborhood of Buenos Aires…his first brush with tragedy came at the age of three years old he lost part of his right thumb in a playing accident…at the age of four he began studying violin into which he abandoned his soul…his teacher, the celebrated Doro Gorgatti greatly admired Elvino but he felt that his talent was being wasted on tango…at age fourteen he made his concert debut at theater “La Argentina”…the publicity poster advertised, “child prodigy…admittance price only two pesos”…one evening, while playing at a silent cinema theater, Juan Paglio “Macho” himself came to the cinema to ask the boy Elvino to join his orchestra…Elvino late joined the legendary Paquita Bernardo, the first female bandoneonist; it is there that he met Osvaldo Pugliese…in his career he would play with Lucio Demare, Astor Piazzolla and Carlos
Disarli…later with the Pedro Maffia orchestra he wrote his first tango “Grito del Anima”…among his most remember compositions are “Tineblas” recorded by Pedro Maffia with the voice of the fascinating Tito Schippa and “Imaginacion” recorded by Libertad Lamarque and “Te Llama Mi Violin” recorded by Osvaldo Fresedo.
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- CLICK HERE – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yILHvW1XOhc to hear Osvaldo Fresedo play “Te Llama Mi Violin” with the voice of Oscar Serpa composed by Elvino Vardaro
TODAY IN TANGO ! 