Task:Juan D'Arienzo
Juan D’Arienzo (Buenos Aires, December 14th, 1900 – Buenos Aires, January 14th, 1976) was an Argentinian violinist, composer and, above all, leader and orchestra director. As a very complete, versatile musician, he had a long, successful career and is now considered to be one of the most emblematic figures of Argentine tango.
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Early days
Juan D'Arienzo was the first child born of Amalia Améndota and Alberto D'Arienzo, both Italians who had come to Buenos Aires as part of the massive migratory waves of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Don Alberto’s hopes that his son would devote himself to the study of Law were soon to be defeated, as a young Juan showed a strong inclination towards music. He began his studies at the Conservatorio Mascagni and quite soon got his first paying job, as part of an orchestra of children at the Zoological Garden, that played on Sunday afternoons.. He would later on perform as violinist at the Avenida Theatre, and other locations with different groups, often in the company of his friend Ángel D’Agostino. Also, like many musicians at the time, D’Arienzo would work playing jazz in cinemas, providing music for silent films. “Select Lavalle” and “Real Cine” were the most prominent cinemas where he performed.
The Paramount Orchestra
His entering the Paramount Orchestra marked the definitive turn for D'Arienzo towards tango. And towards success. Throughout the years, the configuration of the orchestra changed as it normally happens; the addition of the remarkable bandoneonist Anselmo Aieta in 1925, however, was key. From then on, the group soon changed its name to “Los Ases del Tango” (The Aces of Tango) and later on to “Aieta y sus Ases” (Aieta and his Aces), and the popularity of the group would only increase.
The D'Arienzo-Visca
In 1928, D’Arienzo takes his first step as director of his own group, the D'Arienzo-Visca, co-founded with Luis Visca, pianist in one of the configurations of Aieta y sus Ases. It was a fortunate combination and both of them were said to have similar temperaments and to share an enormous passion for tango. They would perform at the “Hindú” Cinema, Radio Libertad, “Florida”, “Chantecler”. The direction of the style and the performances was showing a preference for the nightclubs, the cabarets, where tango began to take shelter. In 1934, due to health problems, perhaps as a consequence of his father’s death, Visca stepped aside, leaving D'Arienzo on his own.
La Juan D'Arienzo
1935 became then a landmark. D'Arienzo “cased” the violin to devote himself to directing. The years to come would be full with success and the figure of Juan D'Arienzo would reach an almost mythological status. Among its ranks, the Juan D'Arienzo Orchestra counted a great number of outstanding musicians who, many say, were an important part of the explanation of the group’s prosperity. One way or the other, it is impossible to deny the quality of, just to give an example, Rodolfo Biagi (he played the piano in the orchestra for three years), Juan Polito, Fluvio Salamanca, Alberto Echagüe, or Armando Laborde; it is known that even Aníbal Troilo performed with D'Arienzo on occasion, and also Carlos Di Sarli collaborated with him once for a period of 45 days. Many of the members of his orchestra eventually went their own ways, forming their own groups. Their time under the direction of D'Arienzo, however, would normally shine through, and their own styles were quite often considered a continuation of that of D'Arienzo.
For 28 years, the orchestra performed at the Chantecler, which became the orchestra and its director’s favourite stage, as well as a symbol of the dance of tango during the 1940’s. The milonga “La puñalada” and, of course, “La cumparsita” are among the orchestra’s greatest hits. A record that contained both tracks became a success that was unusual for its time, selling almost two million copies.
Style
According to D’Arienzo himself, tango was built upon three pillars: “rhythm, effects and nuances.” The great potency of its music, characterized among other elements by the determined and very precise staccatos, its eminently rhythmical style made D’Arienzo’s orchestra a favourite among dancers. It was said that “he renewed the feeling for the dance through the strength of determination and a smile.” D’Arienzo himself won the public’s affections and became a true idol. It can still be seen today on priceless videos that have survived, how involved and emotional his directing was, with how much passion he transmitted his energy to his musicians. The “D’Arienzo Style” was quite a novelty in its time, perhaps precisely because he is considered to have returned, in his own way, to the original feeling of the Guardia Vieja, or rather, to have brought the feeling of the old days of the tango to his present. In his own words, “I feel tango like that, the old way, and since it wasn’t me who invented it, I don’t think I have the right to make changes that will make its appearance completely different […] I went to look for it to its own source, and brought it with me by the hand.”[A 1]
D'Arienzo as composer
Juan D’Arienzo is the author of 43 works. All of them but five were recorded. In alphabetical order, the recorded pieces are: Ay mimosa; Bailate un tango; Ricardo; Bandera baja; Bien pulenta; Callejas solo; Cartón junao; Con alma de tango; Consejos; Cruz Maidana; Chamusquina; Chichipía; Chirusa; Dos guitas; El raje; El vino triste; Eso sí que no y que no; Falso; Ganzúa (milonga); Garronero; Hoy me vas a escuchar; La sonrisa de mamá (vals); La doce; Lenguas de fuego; Lo mismo que ayer (vals), Nada más (Nuevo nombre de “Callejas solo”); Necesito tu cariño; No nos veremos nunca; Paciencia; Por qué, mi Dios; Santa madrecita; Sepeñoporipitapa; Si la llegaran a ver; Sin balurdo; Tomá estas monedas; Trampa; Y suma y sigue; Ya lo ves. The ones he never recorded: Amigo Evaristo; Apache; Borrá y apuntá de nuevo; Brumas; En la boca, no. With his orchestra, D’Arienzo also performed the works of Carlos Lázzari, Juan Polito, Fluvio Salamanca, Enrique Alessio, Héctor Varela, Eladio Blanco, Ernesto Franco, Jorge Dragone, Cayetano Puglisi, Pablo Hechin, Luis N Visca, Rodolfo Biagi (Humillación, Indiferencia, Magdala), Juancito Díaz; Alberto Echagüe, Aldo Junnissi, Armando Laborde, Victorio Virgilito, Aquiles Aguilar, Clemente Ortiz, Mario Landi, Ciriaco Ortiz, among others (many were members of the orchestra themselves at some point). It’s a little known fact, that D’Arienzo was author to a “shimmy” called “Tu boquita” (Your little mouth), dedicated to his friend Martín Gregorini.
Great voices
Carlos Dante, Francisco Fiorentino (del grupo D'Arienzo-Visca, también bandoneonista), Rafael Cisca (first singer of an orchestra exclusively directed by D'Arienzo; he didn’t record with him), Walter Cabral (first singer D’Arienzo brought to the Victor studios), Mario Landi (worked only in night salons), Enrique Cabral, Alberto Echagüe (three periods: 1938-39, 1944-57, 1968-74; total of 135 recordings with D’Arienzo), Alberto Reynal, Carlos Casares, Héctor Mauré (1940-44; 50 recordings), Juan Carlos Lamas, Armando Laborde, Rodolfo Lemos, Mario Bustos, Jorge Valdés (1957-65), Horacio Palma, Héctor Millán, Osvaldo Ramos. Special performances of: Libertad Lamarque, Antonio Prieto, Mercedes Serrano.
Recordings
D'Arienzo with his orchestra has left over 1007. He worked with the record label Electra in 1928, and recorded 42 songs. The rest of the recordings were made through the label RCA Victor, to which D'Arienzo was associated for over 40 years.
Radio
During his career D'Arienzo performed in the following radio stations: Radio Fénix, Radio El Mundo, Radio Belgrano and Radio Splendid.
Film
It wasn’t uncommon for the time, for famous musicians to make appearances on the big screen. Juan D'Arienzo appeared in the films “Tango” (1933), “Melodías porteñas” (1937), “Yo quiero ser bataclana” (1941), “Otra cosa es con guitarra” (1949), “Alma de bohemia” (1949), and “Al compás de tu mentira” (1950). In some occasion, the performances on film took place alongside other well-known names, such as Tita Merello, Luis Sandrini and Niní Marshall, as well as the orchestras of Juan de Dios Filiberto, Osvaldo Fresedo, Pedro Maffia and Edgardo Donato, among others.
Television
As television began to occupy a bigger place in the culture, several shows appeared, that were dedicated to the tango music, which by the sixties was already feeling the threat of time and change. Like that, D’Arienzo and his orchestra appeared in “Palais de Glace” (1959), “Aquí Armenonville” (1960), “Show de CAP”(1962), and “Del Pueblo” (1972).
Anecdotes and interesting facts
The legend tells that as a young boy, Juan D'Arienzo walked past a store that sold furniture and musical instruments and heard the sound of a piano. He went in and so met a boy his age, also a student of music who would go into the store to practice every time there was a piano for sale. That was the beginning of his friendship with Ángel D'Agostino.
At the age of sixteen, D'Arienzo played the violin alongside the pianist Eduardo Bonessi. It’s interesting to note that Bonessi taught singing, and one of his students was Carlos Gardel.
Juan D'Arienzo got the nickname “Grillo” (lit. “cricket”) during his early days as a jazz musician, when he developed a particular style for playing that kind of music on the violin.
The loss of his good friend Carlos Gardel caused great grief to D'Arienzo, who, in turn, vowed never to travel by airplane. He kept his promise, to the extent that when they were invited to play in Japan, almost all of his orchestra traveled: all but him.
D'Arienzo attributed himself the creation of the slang term plomo (lit. “lead”), to designate a hard-to-stand, impertinent and annoying individual. Whether or not the word with such meaning is of “D'Arienzan” origin, the fact is that it became quite popular and, although it might sound old-fashioned, its use persists in the modern version of Spanish spoken in Buenos Aires and other regions of the country. José Gobello, one of the best-known experts in lunfardo, incorporated the term to his dictionary.
Notes
- ↑ "Yo siento el tango así, a la manera antigua, y como no fui yo quien lo inventó, no me creo con derecho a hacerle cambios que diferencien totalmente su fisonomía. […] Lo fui a buscar a su propia fuente y de la mano lo traje conmigo." (En Los grandes del tango, Editorial Tango, Capital Federal. Año 1, N°1. Nov. 1990, p.31)
