Notes: Edgardo Donato

Era

Donato’s orquesta is always a 3/4 violin + 3/4 bandoneón (+accordion) formation.

1. 1929-30, Violin Edgardo Donato + Roberto Zerrillo, piano Osvaldo Donato, bandoneón Juan Turturiello + Vicente Vilardi, cello Ascanio Donato.

   • The Donato brothers plus the Uruguayan violinist Zerrillo, orquesta name is Donato-Zerrillo. Although born in Buenos Aires, Donato was raised in Montevideo and is generally considered an East Coaster.

2. 1930-32, Violin Edgardo Donato, piano Osvaldo Donato, bandoneón Miguel Bonano, cello Ascanio Donato.

   • Zerrillo quit and travelled to Chile; Bonano returned from Spain and joined.

3. 1932-36, Violin Domingo Milillo, piano Osvaldo Donato, bandoneón Miguel Bonano, cello Ascanio Donato.

   • Donato quit playing violin and devoted himself to conducting; Bonano quit in late 1936 to join Los Poetas del Tango.

4. 1937-42, Violin Domingo Milillo, piano Osvaldo Donato, bandoneón Juan Turturiello + Vicente Vilardi, cello Ascanio Donato, accordion Osvaldo Bertone.

   • 16-year-old accordionist Bertolín joined and thus became an icon of Donato’s orquesta.

   • The three singers were all fired in 1942 and the members were taken away by the brother Osvaldo. The reason was an in-group love triangle incident. Igor El Espejero’s article offers some valuable research and theories.

5. 1944-45, Violin Rolando Curzel, bandoneón Ernesto Rossi + Julian Plaza, piano Bernardo Blas, Jorge Dragone(?)

   • The orquesta was reorganized in 1943 with brand-new musicians. The arrangement style also changed drastically.

6. 1950-57, Unstable lineups with lots of musicians passing through the ranks. E.g. pianist (not in chronological order): Osvaldo Requena, Antonio Galeazzi, Osvaldo Berlingieri, Norberto Ramos, Dante Samura, Osvaldo Manzi, Osvaldo Tarantino (according to Carlos Puente and various interviews).

7. 1961, Musician unknown.

Date / Genre

• Only TMV were listed. Donato’s orquesta tried many different genres aside from TVM, including Ranchera, Marcha, Paso Doble, Polca, Corrido, etc. This path has been followed by Enrique Rodríguez and has proven to be successful.

• Donato recorded several old tango canyengue pieces with 2/4 rhythm, and they are often treated as milongas by the DJs. They are tagged as milonga:

  • The two versions of Papas Calientes (1937-11-29 and 1952-07-25).

  • El Torito (1939-11-14).

  • El Lengue (1940-12-13). (The second version of El Lengue, recorded on 1957-03-19, is undoubtedly a standard tango arrangement)

• Sin Palabras, Una Vez, and Demasiado Tarde are probably radio takes, and recording dates are uncertain (1945/6), thus unlisted.

Singer / Masters

• Jorge Ortiz used his real name Juan Alessio when working with Donato in 1935.

• Donato was the first to include a lead female singer Lita Morales, the wife of Horacio Lagos, into the orquesta, along with a third singer Romeo Gavioli.

• Donato’s favorite piece El Huracán has been recorded four times (1932, 1950, 1952, 1961), each time marking an improvement in technology or a change of Label.

Pitch / Speed

• Piano in Donato’s band has been updated to 440hz in 1938 and to 442hz in his final 1961 Víctor session.

• Aside from the Brunswick era, the majority of Donato’s recordings were played at a fast tempo, which even predates D’Arienzo.