Roberto Firpo (May 10, 1884June 14, 1969) was an

Argentine tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in patterns such as AB ...

pianist,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, and leader. Firpo was among the first innovators of the classic tango music genre. He was the establisher of the piano in the tango orchestra. Firpo was born in the

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

district of Buenos Aires, where his father owned a grocery store. Firpo left school at 15 to work with his father and then several other companies, he eventually saved 200 Pesos (around US$100, at the time) to buy his first piano. Around 1903 he began to have lessons with one of the greats of the period, Alfredo Bevilacqua. In 1907 he began composing and performing. In 1913, at the age of 29, he formed his first orchestra that played the hits "Argañaraz", "Sentimiento criollo", "De pura cepa", and "Marejada" that year. In 1914 classic tango "Alma de bohemio" materialized and presented; one of his most admired work until today. During his career Firpo played in most of the famous Buenos Aires tango venues such as the Armenonville, El tambito,

Palais de Glace The Palais de Glace is a rumeno style Belle Époque building in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located at 1430 Posadas street, it was modelled on the Palais des Glaces in Paris. The building was designed by J. L. Ruiz Ba ...

, Bar Iglesias, L’Abbaye, Teatro Buenos Aires, Teatro Nacional, Salón San Martín and Colonia Italiana. Many famous musicians passed through his various orchestras including the bandoneonist Pedro Maffia, the violinist Elvino Vardaro, Cayetano Puglisi, Juan Guido, Luis Cosenza and . His quartet was one of his most famous ensembles and he wrote many tangos. He was one of the few tangueros to play in a cafe in

Avenida de Mayo May Avenue ( es, Avenida de Mayo) is an avenue in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. It connects the Plaza de Mayo with Congressional Plaza, and extends in a west–east direction before merging into Rivadavia Avenue. History and overview B ...

in Buenos Aires and he was the first person to play the tango La Cumparsita in the cafe ''La Giralda'' in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay. Firpo in 1930 gave up his tango career for a short while, to try his hand at cattle ranching, but he was forced to return to tango when the Paraná river's floods destroyed his livestock, and after that (trying to recover from the losses and trying his luck) he lost the rest of his fortune on the stock market. Firpo retired in 1959 and died on June 14, 1969.

Legacy

It is estimated that Firpo made between 1,800 and 3,000 recordings in his career. He is considered one of the most conservative of the tango traditionalists but also one of the greatest and most prodigious of tango musicians and composers.

External links

Todo Tango profileTango.info profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firpo, Roberto 1884 births 1969 deaths People from Buenos Aires Argentine tango musicians Argentine composers Argentine conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery 20th-century conductors (music)