CARLOS GARDEL

'Carlos Gardel' (11 December 1887/1890¹ - 24 June 1935 Medellín, Colombia) was perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. Although his birthplace is in doubt, Argentina was his home from childhood, and he acquired Argentine citizenship in 1923. He died in an airplane crash at the height of his career, creating the image of a tragic hero throughout Latin America. For many, Gardel embodies the soul of the tango style that sprang from the barrios of Buenos Aires and Montevideo at the end of the 19th century.
The unerring musicality and dramatic phrasing of Gardel's baritone voice made miniature masterpieces of his hundreds of three-minute tango recordings. Together with lyricist and long-time collaborator Alfredo Le Pera, Gardel also wrote several classic tangos, notably ''Mi Buenos Aires querido, Cuesta abajo, Amores de estudiante, Soledad, Volver, Por Una Cabeza'' and ''El día que me quieras.''

Gardel began his singing career in bars and at private parties, and sang a wide repertory with Francisco Martino and later in trio with Martino and José Razzano. Gardel created the ''tango-canción'' in 1917 with with his rendition of Pascual Contursi and Samuel Castriota's ''Mi Noche Triste''. The recording sold 100,000 copies and was a hit throughout Latin America. Gardel went on to tour through Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, and also appeared in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and New York. 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 Paramount in France and the U.S. While sentimental films such as ''El día que me quieras'' and ''Cuesta abajo'' lack lasting dramatic value, they were outstanding showcases for his tremendous singing talents and matinée-idol looks.
When an airplane crash in Medellín, Colombia killed Gardel and Le Pera in 1935, millions of his fans throughout Latin America went into mourning. Hordes thronged to pay their respects as his body travelled from Colombia through New York and Rio de Janeiro. Thousands rendered homage during the two days he lay in state in Montevideo, his mother's home at the time. Gardel's body was laid to rest in La Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires.
Gardel is still revered from Tokyo to Buenos Aires, where people say that "he 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. The oft-used phrase ''Veinte años no es nada'' (''Twenty years is nothing'') comes from his song ''Volver''.

Contents

Birthplace controversy

Trivia

Films

Carlos Gardel in literature and popular culture

References

External links

Birthplace controversy

The place of Gardel's birth is a matter of considerable controversy that still provokes passionate debate in Uruguay, Argentina and France.
Some theorize that Gardel was born in a small town called Valle Edén in the Uruguayan department of Tacuarembó. This theory is supported by his application for Argentinian citizenship, in which he claims to be Uruguayan, and the half-burnt passport recovered from his body, which gives Tacuarembó as place of birth.
Others hypothesize that Gardel was born Charles Romuald Gardès in Toulouse, France by an illegitimate father to Berthe Gardès (1865-1943), who brought him to Argentina at age 27 months. An original French birth certificate is reportedly owned by the estate of Gilbert Mamery, Puerto Rican radio personality and Gardel scholar. In addition, Gardel's apparent holographic will asserts that he was born in Toulouse, France.
When asked about his nationality, Gardel would answer ''"I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the age of 2 years and a half..."''. It is postulated that Gardel gave an evasive answer in order to hide the circumstances of his birth to a single mother.
References:
http://www.gardelbiografia.com.ar/

Trivia

★ In 1915 Carlos Gardel was supposedly wounded after being shot by Che Guevara's father, Ernesto Guevara Lynch, as a result of a bar room brawl in the belle epoque ''Palais de Glace'' in the Recoleta district of Buenos Aires, although different versions assert that he was shot in the chest or in the leg, and yet another variation holds that it was not Che's father but rather Roberto Guevara, a high-class boy often involved in quarrels[1].

★ The same plane crash that killed 'Gardel' and 'Le Pera' also killed two of their guitarists, 'Guillermo Desiderio Barbieri' and 'Ángel Domingo Riverol'. Several business associates and friends of the group died as well (Clavell 1996).

★ Clavell (1996) states 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 or sight [2] [3].

Films

★ ''Flor de Durazno'' (1917) (silent)
This was the first film of Carlos Gardel. Francisco Defilippis Novoa was the director, and also counted with Celestino Petray.
Fuente: Julián y Osvaldo Barsky (2004), Gardel la biografía, Taurus.

★ ''Luces de Buenos Aires'' (1931) (filmed in Paris)

★ ''Esperame'' (1933)

★ ''La Casa es seria'' (1933)

★ ''Melodía de Arrabal'' (1933)

★ ''Cuesta abajo'' (1934)

★ ''El Tango en Broadway'' (1934)

★ ''El Día que me quieras'' (1935)

★ ''Cazadores de estrellas'' (1935)

Carlos Gardel in literature and popular culture

★ Gabriel García Márquez mentions Gardel in his novel, ''Love in the Time of Cholera''. 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 Borges, Julio Cortázar, Jorge Sábato and Jimmy Buffett also mention Gardel in their works.

★ Gardel is mentioned in the comic strip "9 Chickweed Lane" (by Brooke McEldowney) on 9 August 2007, when a character in the strip is dressed and made up to look like Gardel.

References

★ Julián & Osvaldo Barsky (2004), ''Gardel la biografía'', Editorial Taurus.

★ Clavell, M. (1996), Biografía. In: ''Los Mejores Tangos de Carlos Gardel''. Alfred Publ. Van Nuys, California.

External links

★ gardelbiografia (Spanish). See also the newsletter: "Gardel Buenos Aires".

★ "The true story about Gardel's place of birth" (Spanish)

★

★ Chronicles

★ Carlitos

★ Gardel Web (Spanish)

★ History (Spanish)

★ Carlos Gardel's Gravesite