Carlos Acuña (November 4, 1915 – February 19, 1999) was an
Argentine
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
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 from a combination of Arge ...
singer and composer. As a vocalist, he was best known for his performance of ''La Calesita'' ("The Merry-Go-Round"); and as a composer, for ''Un boliche'' ("A Tavern").
Born Carlos Ernesto di Loreto, Acuña began his career in the 1930s and became known for his deep and highly expressive voice. He performed with orchestra leaders such as Ernesto de la Cruz,
Carlos di Sarli
Carlos Di Sarli (January 7, 1903January 12, 1960) was an Argentine tango musician, orchestra leader, composer and pianist.
Early years
Carlos di Sarli was born at 511 Buenos Aires street (now Yrigoyen) in the city of Bahía Blanca, located in ...
, and Mariano Mores; the poet and tango lyricist Celedonio Flores, his closest friend, introduced many of his performances until his own death in 1947.
Acuña joined Mores' orchestra in 1955, with whom he recorded 15 albums for
Odeon Records
Odeon Records is a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. The label's name and logo come from the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe in Paris.
History
Straus a ...
. His foreign travels as a performer brought him success in
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
,
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, where he became a close friend of the exiled
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...
. He lived in Spain for 17 years, where he obtained great success, then returned to Argentina in 1978.
He died in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
in 1999, and was interred in
La Chacarita Cemetery
The La Chacarita Cemetery (, also known as "Cementerio del Oeste") is a cemetery located in the Chacarita neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Occupying an area of 95 hectare, it is the largest in the country.Carlos Acuña on tango.info