Agustín Magaldi Coviello (December 1, 1898 – September 8, 1938) was an
Argentinian
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
and
milonga singer. His nickname was "La voz sentimental de Buenos Aires" ("The sentimental voice of Buenos Aires"). Magaldi took part in the opening broadcasts of Argentina's LOY Radio Nacional in July 1924.
Magaldi suffered from
liver disease
Liver disease, or hepatic disease, is any of many diseases of the liver. If long-lasting it is termed chronic liver disease. Although the diseases differ in detail, liver diseases often have features in common.
Signs and symptoms
Some of the sig ...
and was admitted to Sanatorium Otamendi early in September 1938. An operation by Dr. Pedro Valdez was successful, but Magaldi died 48 hours later. He was buried in
La Chacarita Cemetery
Cementerio de la Chacarita in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is known as the National Cemetery and is the largest in Argentina.
Location
The cemetery is in the barrio or district of Chacarita, in the western part of Buenos Aires. Its main entrance i ...
in Buenos Aires.
Portrayal in ''Evita''
In the
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...
and
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
''
Evita Evita may refer to:
Arts
* Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name
* Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron
* Evita (album), ''E ...
'', Magaldi is depicted as bringing Eva to
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
and so is therefore referred to as "the first man to be of use to
Eva Duarte
Eva or EVA may refer to:
* Eva (name), a feminine given name
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment
* Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...
".
There is some disagreement, however, about the role Magaldi played in Eva's real life, or that they knew each other. For example, in the 1981 biography ''Evita: The Real Life of Eva Perón'', biographers
Marysa Navarro
Marysa Navarro Aranguren (born 1934) is a Spanish-American historian specializing in the history of feminism, the history of Latin American women, and the history of Latin America. She occupies a prominent role as a promoter and activist in the a ...
and Nicholas Fraser write that there are no records of Magaldi performing in Eva's hometown of
Junín in the year that Eva is said to have met Magaldi:
"Most accounts of Evita's life say that she fell in love with the spotlight image of Magaldi or that she decided to seduce him and use him; but that, in either event, she was introduced to him, asked him to take her to Buenos Aires, and when he wavered, forced her way into his train compartment and rode with him to the city, thus leaving her family and becoming a married man's mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...
. Yet there is no record of the tango singer's having come to Junín that year. Magaldi, a mild man who was devoted to his mother, used to bring his wife on tour, and it is hard to understand what he would have seen in small, skinny Eva María. If he did help her leave Junín, it is likely that his assistance was of the most innocuous kind. Evita's sister insists that doña Juana, prodded by don Pepe, accompanied Evita to the city. According to her account, mother and daughter kept visiting the radio stations until they found a programme for which a young girl was needed."[Navarro, Marysa. Fraser, Nicholas. ''Evita: The Real Life of Eva Perón''. Page 11.]
A major deviation from history is that the musical depicts Magaldi as performing at a charity concert given in aid of the victims of an
earthquake in San Juan, Argentina. The concert, where Eva Duarte and
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...
met for the first time, occurred on January 22, 1944 when Magaldi had been dead for over five years.
References
External links
Agustín Magaldiby Pablo Taboada and Ricardo García Blaya.
Agustín Magaldiat Tango.info
Agustín Magaldi recordingsat the Discography of American Historical Recordings
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magaldi, Agustin
1898 births
1938 deaths
Argentine tango musicians
Singers from Rosario, Santa Fe
Tango singers
Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery
20th-century Argentine male singers
Deaths from liver disease
Argentine people of Italian descent