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Osvaldo Fresedo:

Here Osvaldo Fresedo is at the far right, directing his orchestra – including harpist and vibraphone player.

Fresedo was a tango pioneer. A few years younger than Firpo and Canaro, he was performing in their orchestras as early as 1917. He recorded prolifically from the 1920s to the late 1960s, but his most popular era for today’s dancer is from the early 1930s to the late 1940s.

Singers (click on gallery to enlargen)

Carlos Di Sarli:

This studio portrait of the young Carlos Di Sarli shows him wearing what was to become his trademark pair of dark glasses.

De Sarli is a constant in today’s milongas. From his piano, he held the orchestra together with an assured, masterful presence whilst the violins provided the energy. His first recordings were with his sextet from 1929 to 1931, and then with his orchestra from 1939 to 1958. Despite the inevitable change of style, tangos from each of the decades are still regularly played.

Singers (click on gallery to enlargen)

Miguel Caló:

Miguel Caló is looking at singer Alberto Podestá while Enrique Francini plays violin in the foreground

Caló recorded from the early 1930s to the early 1970s but the era that we dance to most frequently is the surprisingly narrow, but beautifully crafted, period between 1941 and 1945.

Singers (click on gallery to enlargen)

Lucio Demare:

Lucio Demare sits on stage at the piano.

An orchestra leader with useful connections, primarily Francisco Canaro, Demare’s main recording contract was from 1938 to 1945. His singers provided the intimacy and romance needed to contrast with the violins, which could often be rasping.

Singers (click on gallery to enlargen)

Angel D’Agostino:

At the recording studios of Radio Splendid, Argentina are ‘Los Dos Angeles’, ‘The Two Angels’. Angel D’Agostino is to the left, with his hand in his pocket, alongside his singer Angel Vargas (holding what may be a note of the tango lyrics).

D’Agostino’s recording decade was the 1940s, and the vast majority of his tracks were with Vargas. His musical style is nostalgic and wistful, and constructed in an interplay of ‘call and response’ with each instrument taking the lead role in succession.

Singers (click on gallery to enlargen)

Alfredo De Angelis:

Alfredo De Angelis is sitting at the piano to the far left.

 The main recording decades that we dance to today were the 1940s and 1950s. His style provokes lots of turns on the dance floor but can appear too ‘flowery’ for many. The best loved De Angelis tracks today tend to be with the ones that feature his singing duets.

Singers (click on gallery to enlargen)

** Photographs courtesy of Christian Tobler, Switzerland