Tango y Cultura Popular ® English Edition TyCP Special | Page 58

“My life began when I met
Discépolo. That’s when I was
really born. Although being a
legend’s widow is something
terrible. In the beginning,
you enjoy the praises, but
after some time it turns
annoying, it puts everything
I do in the shade, it’s
suffocating” - Tania said. “If
I inevitably bring Discépolo’s
reminiscence to people, I try
to wipe sorrow away from
those moments. I prefer to
feel it as a presence, as an
eternal companion that’s
still by my side. He used to
write his songs over and over
again. He walked along the
room, read them out loud for
me, and then he generally
destroyed them. The only
ones he wrote at once were
Cafetín de Buenos Aires and
Uno, in three or four months.
For him, that was really fast.
He dedicated some tangos to
me, like Uno, for example.
This one is for you -he used
to say”.
They were both Peronist
adherents, and even shared
meetings with Perón and
Evita and later were victims
of political persecution.
Discépolo died of a heart
attack in 1951, though -as
she said- it is believed he
died out of sadness. Tania
recalled: “Once Discépolo
told me: ‘I would love to be
a beggar so I wouldn’t have
to do anything’. They say if
he was alive, he would be
swimming in money. They’re
wrong! He wouldn’t have
a penny, because he didn’t
like to work, but he liked to
help everyone, and he did
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that in excess”. The poet and
the singer loved each other
against the grain in almost
everything, their relationship
was open and free; she
liked huge guys, and he was
skinny, with a crooked nose
and pop-eyed.
“I would have given my
life... to save the illusion”
-Discépolo said to a journalist
once. “Which one? -They
asked. “The illusion of a
better world” - the genius
answered.
Homero Manzi and Nelly
Omar: Malena
Homero Manzi was a
special poet who managed
to profoundly describe
everything related to
Argentina. Sur, Malena,
Barrio de tango, Che
Bandoneón and so many
other tangos, that reflect our
idiosyncrasy, came out of his
brain. He was a film director
and scriptwriter. Pichuco’s
friend and associate. Talented
and hardworking man.
Nelly Omar was so much
more than a voice, she
was an icon during one of
Tango’s best ages. Tangos,
milongas and waltzes forged
her repertoire, for she was
later called “the Gardel on
skirt”. She was part of a
golden age of song singers
like Rosita Quiroga, Lola
Membrives, Tita Merello,
Lágrima Ríos, Azucena
Maizani, Mercedes Simone,
Ada Falcón or Libertad
Lamarque. Her father was a
friend of Gardel, and it was