TS 1.09 - Osvaldo Pugliese 1955-56 Completo
Tags: Osvaldo PuglieseCategory: CollectionSamples
Just as the orquesta was beginning to regain its footing, another blow came: in early 1955, Pugliese was arrested and imprisoned.
He was released six months later, in July 1955. In November, Roberto Peppe tragically lost his life in a climbing accident, and Ismael Spitalnik joined the orchestra in 1956 to replace him. Pugliese himself continued to face intermittent arrests, and it was during this period that the legendary story of the red carnation began.
Emancipación was the first recording Pugliese made after his release from prison, and also the only instrumental recording from 1955. The six instrumental recordings that followed in 1956 were predominantly contemporary works, revealing an increasingly spiritual and forward-looking dimension in the orchestra’s music.
Jorge Maciel, “the Caruso of tango,” now found himself paired with the equally fearless Pugliese, and the result was explosive. Their recordings from this period include enduring classics such as Esta Noche De Luna, Cascabelito, and Remembranza. Particularly noteworthy is No Juegues A La Guerra, a work Pugliese composed during his six-month imprisonment in 1955.
Miguel Montero, “El Negro de Oro,” was undoubtedly one of Pugliese’s finest vocalists. His partnership with Maciel reached a level comparable to the classic Chanel–Morán binomio. His recordings from this era include such classics as Antiguo Reloj De Cobre, Qué Te Pasa Buenos Aires, and others.
TS 1.09 brings together Pugliese’s complete 22 recordings from 1955–56 in exceptional restoration and sound quality, allowing the power of both the orquesta and its singers to emerge with even greater impact.
Beyond the complexity of choosing among different surviving sources, one of the greatest challenges in restoring these recordings was the sheer power of the singers’ voices.
Maciel’s immense, brilliant projection pushed the microphones of the period close to their dynamic limits, often disturbing the tonal balance between singer and orchestra. Considerable effort was therefore required to find a natural and comfortable balance while remaining faithful to the character of the original masters.
Remembranza offers a striking example. In the middle and latter sections, Maciel delivers several operatic crescendos and sustained notes of extraordinary power. In the widely circulated RELIQUIAS CD edition, the high frequencies were heavily reduced in an attempt to control the resonance and distortion caused by the sheer force of his voice hitting the microphone. The result is that this great recording loses much of its brilliance, like a bull stripped of its strength.
Montero presented a related but somewhat different challenge. His dramatic and forceful delivery, despite his baritone register, could also push certain passages toward overload. As always, our restoration principle remained the same: preserve as much of the original character as possible, while applying conservative corrections only to obvious faults and imperfections.
The surviving CD editions from this period are already listenable, but they still leave substantial room for improvement. Qué Te Pasa Buenos Aires is a perfect example: in the release of its final twenty seconds, Montero seems almost to be standing directly in front of you, shouting straight into your face.
With TS 1.09, we have tried to release the full force, color, and dramatic presence of Pugliese’s 1955–56 recordings while preserving their original character. We hope these restorations will allow listeners to experience this extraordinary period of the orquesta with a new sense of immediacy.
Frank Jin
| Date | Track | Genre | Singer | Label | Matrix No. | Pitch | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955-09-02 | Emancipación | Tango | Instrumental | Odeón | 20440 | 440 | 3:26 |
| 1955-09-02 | Mi Serenata | Tango | Montero y Maciel | Odeón | 20441 | 440 | 3:32 |
| 1955-09-02 | Esta Noche De Luna | Tango | Jorge Maciel | Odeón | 20442 | 440 | 3:45 |
| 1955-09-02 | Antiguo Reloj De Cobre | Tango | Miguel Montero | Odeón | 20443 | 440 | 2:33 |
| 1955-09-22 | El Poncho Del Amor | Tango | Miguel Montero | Odeón | 20470 | 440 | 2:50 |
| 1955-09-22 | Cascabelito | Tango | Jorge Maciel | Odeón | 20471 | 440 | 2:40 |
| 1956-01-31 | A Mis Compañeros | Tango | Instrumental | Odeón | 20770 | 440 | 3:36 |
| 1956-01-31 | No Juegues A La Guerra | Tango | Jorge Maciel | Odeón | 20771 | 440 | 3:53 |
| 1956-03-20 | A Roberto Peppe | Tango | Instrumental | Odeón | 20836 | 440 | 3:06 |
| 1956-03-20 | Qué Te Pasa Buenos Aires | Tango | Miguel Montero | Odeón | 20837 | 440 | 3:00 |
| 1956-05-30 | Muchachos Mi Último Tango | Tango | Miguel Montero | Odeón | 21025 | 440 | 3:10 |
| 1956-06-21 | Y Todavía Te Quiero | Tango | Jorge Maciel | Odeón | 21093 | 440 | 2:48 |
| 1956-06-21 | Orgullo Criollo | Tango | Instrumental | Odeón | 21094 | 440 | 3:23 |
| 1956-07-04 | Remembranza | Tango | Jorge Maciel | Odeón | 21123 | 440 | 3:41 |
| 1956-08-02 | Silueta Porteña | Milonga | Montero y Maciel | Odeón | 21180 | 440 | 3:00 |
| 1956-08-02 | Te Estaba Esperando | Tango | Miguel Montero | Odeón | 21181 | 440 | 3:06 |
| 1956-10-26 | Muchacha | Tango | Jorge Maciel | Odeón | 21472 | 440 | 3:22 |
| 1956-10-26 | Suipacha | Tango | Instrumental | Odeón | 21473 | 440 | 3:15 |
| 1956-11-28 | Nochero Soy | Tango | Instrumental | Odeón | 21600 | 440 | 3:31 |
| 1956-11-28 | Y Con Eso Dónde Voy | Tango | Miguel Montero | Odeón | 21601 | 440 | 2:46 |
| 1956-12-26 | Mentiras | Tango | Montero y Maciel | Odeón | 21726 | 440 | 3:27 |
| 1956-12-26 | Marrón Y Azul | Tango | Instrumental | Odeón | 21727 | 440 | 3:22 |
