Tanda De Angelis - Larroca. Tango lyrics translated. Plus a short tutorial!

Tanda of the Week with De Angelis- Larroca. Lyrics translated and historical pictures. And Daniel Valdés!

++Timeslots++
Start 00:00
Tutorial 00:26
Daniel Valdés 02:54
Volvamos a empezar 06:11
Cómo nos cambia la vida 08:00
Prohíbido 10:03
Almagro 12:10

Daniel Valdés on Instagram: danielvaldes399

Alfredo De Angelis was a pianist, composer and orchestra leader, born in Adrogué – just south of Buenos Aires – in 1912. He had a very successful orchestra. Recording with singers like Floreal Ruiz, Carlos Dante and Julio Martel in the 1940s, and Carlos Dante and Oscar Larroca in the 1950s. De Angelis had a long career: he recorded his first tangos in 1943 and he kept recording until 1985.

Nowadays De Angelis is popular in the milongas especially for his waltzes, like ‘Soñar y nada más’, ‘Pobre flor’, ‘Mi cariñito’ and many more.

His tangos however are a different matter. Like I said, De Angelis is the orchestra that tango critics love to hate. The tango elite tends to look down on him, calling it music for the merry-go-round (la calesita), “superficial dance music, lacking quality and creativity.” Likewise, any tango DJ that dares to play tangos by De Angelis runs the risk of being called a bad DJ, or at least of having bad taste (just so you know).

Now I don’t think this does him justice entirely, at least not for his 1940s recordings. And also not for every recording after that. It’s true, De Angelis did go overboard from time to time. He should never have touched ‘La Yumba’ for instance, like he did in 1974… And there are some popular tracks from the ‘50s as well that I really don’t like, like his version of ‘Mi dolor’ and ‘Pavadita’ for example. But then, that’s my personal taste.

However, I do have a soft spot for Oscar Larroca...

I was reminded of him a few weeks ago, when I saw a video on Facebook, with Daniel Valdés, performing live in the streets of Valparaíso, Chile. His voice sounds very much like Larroca’s, and his performance is basically the inspiration for doing this Tanda of the Week. Now here’s a short clip of Daniel Valdés singing ‘Prohibido’:

Oscar Antonio Moretta, better known as Oscar Larroca was born in Almagro, Buenos Aires in 1922. Before he joined Alfredo De Angelis in 1951, Larroca sang with the orchestras of Domingo Federico, Osvaldo Manzi and Roberto Caló. Larroca, with his bariton voice fitted right in with De Angelis, where he formed a harmonious duo with the other singer, Carlos Dante.

The tanda of the week starts with ‘Volvamos a empezar’ from 1953. Music written by Daniel Álvarez and lyrics by Eduardo Maradei. Larroca sings about a man returning to his family after having spent time in prison. “Dry your tears, and let’s start over again…”

The next track is ‘Cómo nos cambia la vida’ from the same year. Music written by famous singer and composer as well: Roberto Rufino and lyrics by Elizardo Martínez Vilas. “Take the rouge off your lips”, Larroca sings. It’s a tango with rather dark lyrics about a marriage that isn’t so happy anymore. “How life changed us…”

Third is ‘Prohíbido’. Music written by Manuel Sucher, and lyrics by Carlos Bahr. It’s a song about a forbidden love: “Desire brings us together, and honor keeps us apart…” But “Destiny is stronger than prejudice, duty and honor...” Well…

For the final track of the tanda, we could stick with the theme of relationship issues and do ‘Lagrimás de sangre’ from 1955. But I thought that would be a bit too dramatic, so instead we go back to October 1951.

Oscar Larroca sings about the neighbourhood where he grew up: Almagro. An instant hit song. Music written by Vicente San Lorenzo (Vicente Ronca). And lyrics by Iván Diez (Augusto Martini). In ‘Almagro’, Larroca looks back at the good old days of his youth, but growing older everything in life changes – much like in ‘Cómo nos cambia la vida’ – and now “my joy has gone, like a ray of sunshine” and he concludes “Almagro, I leave my heart to you, as a memory of my passion…”

And that’s the De Angelis – Larroca tanda of the week:
1. Volvamos a empezar (1953)
2. Cómo nos cambia la vida (1953)
3. Prohíbido (1953)
4. Almagro (1951)

Enjoy!

Please note: We do not own the music in this video. Songs are included for educational purposes only. All songs have been edited/cut to prevent downloading of the complete songs. You can buy them from various providers (like iTunes) or stream them on Spotify.

[fabiohernandezpalacio]

I particularly like D'Angelis... It's pure Tango Arrabalero... Working class, simple and easy to dace. Especially good for cheering up a dormant Milonga full of new beginners. En la variedad está el placer. Variety is what makes the tango the richest of the popular music gender.

[earlgrey]

Very enjoyable, and very informative. At the end of these videos I always feel more inteligent, in the sense that I have learned something... Thank you.

[pedromorazan]

Mientras más escucho a De Angelis, menos comprendo porque lo rechazan. Tiene un estilo especial y una excelente orquestación

[s.cornelius]

I prefer the tangos of the so-called epoca d’oro, but Alfredo de Angelis is wrongly hated. Oscar Larocca is a wonderful singer with a passionate voice. I like your Tanda very much, you can dance on it ... only I missed my favorite song "Chau"!

[MartinWessels-KrakowPoland]

What on earth is wrong with La Yumba by Alfredo De Angelis???? Elucidate me. He takes a halting, strangely dark and skeletal Pugliese and turns it into a sweeping rhapsody reminiscent of Tchaikovsky or even Johann Strauss. Or of Walt Disney for that matter. Yes, there is a chocolate coating, much more calories. Indulge in it. Why on earth not???