Carlos Gardel (11 December 1887/1890
1 - 24 June 1935
MedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.4 million...
, Colombia) is perhaps the most prominent figure in the
history of tangoTango as a distinctive dance and the corresponding musical style of tango music began in the working-class port neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay. For this reason Tango is often referred to as the Music of the immigrants to Argentina.-Origin of the word:There are a...
. Although his birthplace is disputed between
UruguayUruguay , is a country located in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to 3.46 million people, of whom 1.1 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area. An estimated 88–94% of the population are of mostly European and/or mixed descent.Uruguay's only land border is...
and
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, he lived in Argentina from the age of two and acquired Argentine citizenship in 1923. He grew up in the
AbastoThe Abasto de Buenos Aires was the central wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 1893 to 1984. As of 1999, it serves as a shopping mall, Abasto Shopping. It is also famous for being in the area where the tango singer Carlos Gardel, known as El Morocho del Abasto ,...
neighbourhood of
Buenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital, and largest city, of Argentina, currently the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the eastern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, located near the Central Market of Fruit and Vegetables, an enormous art-deco styled building which today is a shopping mall. He attended Pio IX Industrial high-school located in the
AlmagroAlmagro is a mostly middle-class barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina.The neighbourhood is delimited by La Plata avenue and Río de Janeiro street to the west, Independencia avenue to the south, Sánchez de Bustamante, Sánchez de Loria and Gallo streets to the east, and Córdoba/Estado de Israel avenues...
neighbourhood. He died in an airplane crash at the height of his career, becoming an archetypal tragic
heroA hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
mourned throughout Latin America. For many, Gardel embodies the soul of the tango style that originated in the barrios of Buenos Aires at the end of the 19th century. He is commonly referred to as “
Carlitos”, “
The King of Tango”, “
El Mago” (The Magician) and “
El Mudo” (The Mute).
The unerring musicality of Gardel’s
baritoneBaritone is a type of classical male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek βαρύτονος, meaning 'deep sounding', music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second G below middle C to the F above...
voice and the dramatic phrasing of his lyrics made miniature masterpieces of his hundreds of three-minute tango recordings. Together with lyricist and long-time collaborator
Alfredo Le PeraAlfredo Le Pera was an Brazilian journalist, dramatist, and lyricist, best known for his brief but fruitful collaboration with the Argentinian tango singer Carlos Gardel...
, Gardel wrote several classic tangos, most notably:
Mi Buenos Aires queridoMi Buenos Aires querido is a tango by Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera, released in 1934. It is the soundtrack of its eponymous movie by Julio Irigoyen .-External links:* Lyrics in and...
, Cuesta abajo, Amores de estudiante, SoledadSoledad is a Spanish word meaning solitude or loneliness. It is also a female given name. It may also refer to:-People:*Soledad a native people and language of Salinas Valley, California.*Soledad Aquino, actress*Soledad Alvear, politician...
, Volver, Por una cabeza"Por una cabeza", meaning "by a head [of a horse]" in Spanish, is a popular tango song composed in 1935 by Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera. Gardel was the composer and Le Pera the lyricist....
and
El día que me quierasEl día que me quieras may refer to two Argentine films:See:*Argentine films of 1969*Argentine films of 1986...
.
Career
Gardel began his singing career in bars and at private parties, and sang with Francisco Martino and later in a trio with Martino and José Razzano. Gardel created the
tango-canción in 1917 with his rendition of
Pascual ContursiPascual Contursi was an Argentine poet, singer, and guitarist. He composed lyrics for 33 tango compositions - many well-known.-Life and work:...
and
Samuel CastriotaSamuel Castriota was a pianist, guitarist and composer.He is the composer of the tango Mi noche triste.-External links:**...
’s
Mi Noche Triste"Mi noche triste" was the first tango the famous singer Carlos Gardel recorded. Lyrics were written by Pascual Contursi and the music by Samuel Castriota. In 1951 it was the basis of a film; Mi noche triste .-History:...
. The recording sold 10,000 copies and was a hit throughout Latin America. Gardel went on tour through
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
, Uruguay,
ChileChile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
,
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
,
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
,
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
, Colombia, and also made appearances in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
,
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
and
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
. He sold 70,000 records in the first three months of a 1928 visit to Paris. As his popularity grew, he made a number of films for
ParamountParamount Pictures Corporation is a Worldwide American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is the world's oldest existing American film studio; it is also the last...
in France and the U.S. While sentimental films such as
El día que me quierasEl día que me quieras may refer to two Argentine films:See:*Argentine films of 1969*Argentine films of 1986...
and
Cuesta abajo lack lasting dramatic value, they were outstanding showcases of his tremendous singing talents and moviestar looks.
In 1915 Carlos Gardel was supposedly wounded after being shot by
Che GuevaraErnesto "Che" Guevara commonly known as Che Guevara, El Che, or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, military theorist, and major figure of the Cuban Revolution...
’s father, Ernesto Guevara Lynch, as a result of a bar room brawl in the
belle epoqueThe Belle Époque was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I...
Palais de GlaceThe Palace de Glace is an historic French-style building in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina, built in 1910 and located at 1725 Posadas street....
in the
RecoletaRecoleta is a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This typical "French architecture-style" district is known for its squares, parks, cafés, galleries and the La Recoleta Cemetery Cementerio de la Recoleta, one of Argentina's most important cemeteries...
district of Buenos Aires, although different versions assert that he was shot in the chest or in the leg, yet another variation holds that it was not Che’s father but rather Roberto Guevara, an upper-class boy often involved in quarrels.
Death and ongoing profile
Gardel died in 1935 on an airplane crash in
MedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.4 million...
, Colombia. Le Pera, two of their guitarists (Guillermo Desiderio Barbieri and Ángel Domingo Riverol) and several business associates and friends of the group died in the crash as well. It is believed that a third guitarist, José María Aguilar, died a few days after the crash. Others state that Aguilar lived until 1951, although he never regained full use of his hands and sight.
Millions of his fans throughout
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
went into mourning. Hordes came to pay their respects as his body was taken from Colombia through
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 during the Portuguese colonial era, and...
. Thousands rendered homage during the two days he lay in state in
MontevideoMontevideo is the largest city, the capital and chief port of Uruguay. Montevideo is the only city in the country with a population over 1,000,000...
, the city in which his mother lived at the time. Gardel’s body was laid to rest in
La Chacarita CemeteryCementerio de la Chacarita in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is known as the National Cemetery and is the largest in Argentina.It owes its existence to a yellow fever epidemic in 1871, when existing cemeteries were strained beyond capacity...
in Buenos Aires. In the neighborhood of Abasto, Buenos Aires, in the house where Gardel lived with his mother, the Carlos Gardel Museum opened in 2003.
Gardel is still revered from Tokyo to Buenos Aires. A popular saying in Latin America, which serves as a testimony to his long-lived popularity, claims, “Gardel sings better every day.” The fingers of his life-sized tuxedo-clad statue on his tomb nearly always hold a burning cigarette left by an admirer. Another commonly used phrase in Latin America, which asserts that
Veinte años no es nada (
Twenty years is nothing), comes from his song
Volver. He attended Pio IX High School with his friend Ceferino Namuncurá.
Statues in Scotland
During 2009/2010 statues depicting Gardel are scheduled to be erected temporarily throughout twenty-five small villages and towns of Scotland, commemorating his tour of 1930 where the singer used funds from his well paid appearances in Glasgow and Edinburgh to subsidise small unannounced concerts in rural venues. These impromptu (and free) appearances endeared him to the working population of Scotland and his legacy of passion and art endure through regular commemorative concerts and amateur productions. However the tour is a stunt carried out by performing arts company Mischief La Bas.
Birthplace controversy
The place of Gardel’s birth is a matter of considerable controversy that still provokes passionate debate in Uruguay and Argentina.
During his life, Gardel declared in several occasions being Uruguayan, born in Tacuarembó. After his death, his legal representative, Armando Defino, produced a handwritten will, which he assured was written by Gardel himself, claiming he was born in Toulouse, France, to Berthe Gardès (1865-1943), and baptized with the name of Charles Romuald Gardes. It is not known who Gardel's father was. Due to the fact that this will was officially considered authentic by the Argentinian law, Berthe Gardes (and, after her, Defino himself) received Gardel's inheritance. There is an original birth certificate of a child born in Toulouse to Berthe Gardès on December 11th, 1890. There is no other evidence (except for the handwritten will) linking this child with the singer. The will was controversial due to the lack of previous notice that Gardel had any relationship with France whatsoever. He never declared or suggested that during his life.
A different line of research (Payssé González: "Gardel. Páginas Abiertas", 1st. ed. Montevideo, 1990, 3rd. ed. Montevideo, 2002; Ostuni, "Repatriación de Gardel", Buenos Aires, 1997; Bayardo, "Carlos Gardel: A La Luz De La Historia", Montevideo, 2000) claims that Gardel was born Carlos Escayola Oliva in the rural estate ("estancia") of Carlos Escayola Medina, in the Uruguayan department of
TacuarembóTacuarembó is the largest department of Uruguay. Its capital is Tacuarembó.-Population and Demographics:As of the census of 2004, there were 90,489 people and 28,054 households in the department. The average household size was 3.2...
. Gardel obtained his first official identity document ("Constancia de nacionalidad") in Buenos Aires on October 8th, 1920. There, Gardel claims being Uruguayan, born in Tacuarembó to "Carlos and María, deceased". All the following official documents issued to Gardel certify he is Uruguayan. They can be seen here: http://www.montevideo-tango.com/mvdt/Gardel.htm. There is speculation that Gardel gave Tacuarembó as his birthplace to evade military service during World War I for his native France. Nevertheless, World War I ended in 1918, and this document was issued in 1920. It has been proven by Paysse Gonzalez (2002) and Bayardo (2000) that French law did not enforce military service to the sons of widows resident abroad.
When asked about his nationality, Gardel would repeatedly answer he was Uruguayan, born in Tacuarembó. To the periodical "El Telégrafo" (Paysandú, Uruguay, October 25th, 1933) he declared: "I'm Uruguayan, born in Tacuarembó" [“soy uruguayo, nacido en Tacuarembó”]. In June's 1935 issue of "Caretas" magazine of Antioquia, Colombia, Gardel declared: "Mi heart is Argentinian, but my soul is Uruguayan, because there is where I was born“ ["Mi corazón es argentino, pero mi alma es uruguaya, porque allí nací”]. Several documents related with the theory that he is Uruguayan can be found here http://sites.google.com/site/eluruguayocarlosgardel/ [originals and website in Spanish]
In literature
Gabriel García MárquezGabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. García Márquez, affectionately known as "Gabo" throughout Latin America, is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. In 1982, he was awarded the Nobel...
mentions Gardel in his novel,
Love in the Time of CholeraLove in the Time of Cholera is a novel by Nobel Prize winning Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez that was first published in Spanish in 1985, with an English translation released in 1988 by Alfred A. Knopf...
. When Florentino Ariza and doctor Juvenal Urbino meet at the former's office in the Caribbean Fluvial Company, doctor Urbino unexpectedly asks Ariza, "Do you like music?". After seriously thinking the issue, Ariza answers, "I like Gardel."
Jorge Luis BorgesJorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , best known as Jorge Luis Borges, was an Argentine writer and poet born in Buenos Aires. In 1914, his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school and traveled to Spain. On his return to Argentina in 1921, Borges began publishing his poems and...
,
Julio CortázarJulio Cortázar, born Jules Florencio Cortázar, was an Argentine author of novels and short stories...
,
Ernesto SábatoErnesto Sabato is an Argentine writer. He was born in Rojas, a tiny town in the Province of Buenos Aires. Sabato began his studies at the Colegio Nacional de La Plata. He then read physics at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, where he earned a Ph.D. He then attended the Sorbonne in Paris and...
and
Jimmy BuffettJames William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer, songwriter, author, businessman, and recently a movie producer best known for his "island escapism" lifestyle and music including hits such as "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday". He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrotheads"...
also mention Gardel in their works.
In film
There are two films about Gardel, both in production as of March 2009:
Gardel 2008 (July 2009), starring
Gael Garcia BernalGael García Bernal is a Mexican actor and director.-Early life:García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Angel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, who his mother married when García Bernal was young...
as Gardel, and
Dare to Love Me (2010).
Dare To Love Me
In July 2003 Warner Brothers announced that they were working on a film version of Gardel's biography,
The Vision of Love (the original cast included
Jessica AlbaJessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...
, Ricardo Chavira and
Halle BerryHalle Berry is an American actress, former fashion model, and beauty queen. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was also nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in...
), but production was postponed in spring 2005 until early 2006, by that time both Alba and Chavira had backed out of the film. In 2007,
Lindsay LohanLindsay Dee Lohan is an American actress, model, and pop singer. Lohan started in show business as a child fashion model for magazine advertisements and television commercials...
and
Raoul BovaRaoul Bova is an Italian actor.Bova was born in Rome to Calabrian parents. At the age of 16 he became a local champion in the 100 meter backstroke. At the age of 21 he joined the Italian Army and performed his military duty in the Bersaglieri corps...
where cast in the lead roles of Gardel and La Ritana. It was left unknown when production would begin up until autumn 2008, when it was officially announced that production is set to begin on the film on 18 May, 2009 and it will be released in late 2010.
Popular culture
Gardel is mentioned in the song
Sociedade Alternativa, by
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
ian
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the 1960s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music....
artist
Raul SeixasRaul Santos Seixas , was a Brazilian rock composer, singer, songwriter and producer. He was born in Salvador , Brazil, and died of a heart attack in São Paulo...
, in the lines
se eu quero e você quer/tomar banho de chapéu/ou discutir Carlos Gardel (
if we both want/to take a shower wearing hats/or to discuss Carlos Gardel).
Filmography
- Flor de Durazno (1917) (silent). This was Gardel's first film and was directed by Francisco Defilippis Novoa and was made in collaboration with Celestino Petray.
- Luces de Buenos Aires (1931) (filmed in Paris)
- Esperame
"Espérame" is a pop song recorded by Chilean singer and actress Denise Rosenthal and this song is the second single for her first solo studio album, El Blog de la Feña, released in Chile on August 11, 2008...
(1932)
- La Casa es seria (1932)
- Melodía de Arrabal (1932)
- Cuesta abajo (1934)
- El Tango en Broadway (1934)
- El Día que me quieras
El día que me quieras may refer to two Argentine films:See:*Argentine films of 1969*Argentine films of 1986...
(1935)
- Cazadores de estrellas (1935)
- Tango Bar (1935)
External links