Osvaldo Pugliese

San Pugliese

Pianist, Leader and Composer

(1905 December 2 - 1995 July 25)

Place of Birth: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Notes: Osvaldo Pugliese

Era

1. 1943-44. Enrique Camerano first violin, Enrique Alessio and Osvaldo Ruggiero lead bandoneóns, 4 bando + 3/4 violin

   1b: 1944 one violin Oscar Herrero added, thus violin section expanded to four.

   • Alessio served as the first bandoneón, but Ruggiero was in charge of the solos in the records; the arrangement was pure Decarean (see Natalio Etchegaray’s Del Decarismo al Pugliesismo), with strong accentuation on beats for dancers’ favor.

2. 1944-56. Alessio left and Jorge Caldara joined; Osvaldo Ruggiero first bandoneón. Camerano first violin. Emilio Balcarce (violin) replaced Jaime Tursky in 1948. 4 bando + 4 violin

   2b: A viola was added in 1951.

   2c: 1955 Mario Demarco replaced Caldara who left Pugliese for political concerns. Pugliese was arrested and then released after a 6-month detention.

   • It is difficult to determine when exactly Alessio left. Based on the Todotango pages of Alessio and Caldara, and taking into account Alberto Marino’s discography, it could be assumed to be sometime around Sept/Oct 1944.

   • From 1945, the orquesta began to exhibit a style transition from Decarean to his own (“yumba!”), with the participation of many of his fellow musicians as composers and arrangers.

3. 1957-58. Osvaldo Manzi on piano. Osvaldo Ruggiero first bandoneón. 4 bando + 4 violin

   3b: Camerano offered the first violin spot to Oscar Herrero in 1957 June, and quit the violin section permanently after the July 1958 recording session.

   • Due to social, political, and personal issues, Pugliese quit piano playing and served as conductor (when he was there). It was also during this period Camerano planned to retire. Quoting scholar Nélida Rouchetto:

     • “…las grabaciones de que la orquesta de Pugliese registró entre el 4-4-57 y el 6-8-58 no contaron con Osvaldo Pugliese en el piano. La salud quebrantada lo obligó a interrumpir su labor. Osvaldo Manzi, con brillante solvencia, cubrió las ausencias en temas de comprometidas estructuras rítmicas y la acción conductora, en especial en Pata ancha, Yunta de oro, Corazoneando, Gente amiga y La bordona, pero siempre bajo la supervisión del director. Otro cambio provocó el alejamiento de Camerano, pasando al primer atril Oscar Herrero, con un canto más grave y ataques sorprendentes. Su primera grabación en este puesto fue Yunta de oro (1957-10-25)…”

     This is evidenced by in-depth listening to the recordings in chronological order. Therefore, Pata Ancha (1957-05-13) is the last instrumental piece “El Gitano” Camerano features his violin solo.

   3c: Because of Camerano’s absence, La Bordona and Qué Pinturita (1958-08-06) featured only 3 fiddlers.

4. 1958-68. Pugliese returns to the piano stool. A cello (not violin!) was added to strengthen the string section. Ruggiero first bando, Oscar Herrero first violin. 4 bando + 3 violin

   4b: After the 1959 Soviet-China tour there was a reshuffle of the bandoneonistas, except for Ruggiero who remained and continued leading the section.

   • Simón Bajour was in the 1959 tour, but never in the studio.

   • Herrero’s style started to exhibit. A sobbing, shivering, unstable, and slim character.

5. 1969-87. Brand-new orquesta. Arturo Penón first bandoneón. Mauricio Marcelli first violin. 4 bando + 3/4 violin

   5b: Osvaldo Monterde replaced Mauricio Marcelli as the first violin.

   5c: Daniel Binelli replaced Arturo Penón as the first bandoneón.

   5d: Roberto Álvarez replaced Daniel Binelli. One violin was added, expanding the violin section into 4.

Date

• Stentor recording dates from eltangoysusinvitados and Pablo Guardianelli.

• Milonga Para Fidel (1961) was dedicated to Castro Fidel and composed shortly after the Bay of Pigs Invasion in Apr. 1961, according to Michael Lacocah’s Tango Masters: Osvaldo Pugliese. Therefore it was probably recorded in either April or May.

• Philips Era: traceable only to months. The exact dates are unknown and there are discrepancies:

  • Enamorado Estoy (1963-04), some source indicates 1964

  • A Los Artistas Plásticos (1964-12), some source indicates 1965

• 1987 Session: there are different claims regarding the year (dates unknown) of the last three songs: 1987, 1989, and 1994. 1987 seems plausible.

Genre

• A “retro” genre of milonga canción, in a tempo much slower than the regular milonga ciudadana, much of a reminiscence from the old milonga campera, was in Pugliese’s repertoire after the 1960s, though not designed for dancing, e.g. Milonga Del Soldado (1961), Bordoneo Y 900 (1962), La Solita (1964), Los Hermanos (1972), etc.

Singer

• The success of Pugliese and other Decarean school orquestas (e.g. Troilo, Gobbi) in the 40s fostered the emergence and popularity of dramatic singers, who are heavily influenced by bel canto and are adept at using mezza voce; notably Alberto Morán, Jorge Vidal, Jorge Maciel, Miguel Montero, etc.

• Pugliese collaborated with ten singers in 1981-82 and the tracks were released in one LP Futuro, probably aiming at fostering the new generation.

• Commercial studio OT recordings only.

Masters

• Odeón was possibly using a parallel recording system (78/33) in the microgroove era.

• Discussions on Pugliese’s 1952 tape master recordings in Odeón are already abundant. 1952-11-13 is supposed to be the first tape-master recording session for Pugliese.

• Odeón studio was updated to stereo system in end-1959, therefore, the two 1960-07-15 tracks (A Los Amigos, Un Lamento) were theoretically recorded in stereo.

• Michael’s book unveils details about the ephemeral Stentor label. It seems reasonable to assume the short-lived masters are mono-reel-to-reel tapes, not direct-to-disc parts.

• Philips very likely updated their system to stereo in 1963 and turned to full stereo in the year following.

Pitch

• The two 1960 Odeón tracks (A Los Amigos, Un Lamento) used a piano tuned at 442hz.

• By the time Pugliese left Philips (1970), the piano in the studio was still conservatively tuned at 440hz.

Speed

• Pugliese’s recording career unfortunately missed the rapid era of 1938-41.

• Meanwhile using an excessive amount of rubatos, Pugliese favors a very slow tempo since the 1950s.