Roberto Firpo - Virtual Class 7/26/2020

Pianist, composer and leader. (10 May 1884 - 14 June 1969)

Place of birth: Las Flores (Buenos Aires) Argentina From El Tango Horacio Salas •

The Armenonville (El Armenon) Cabaret

When tango came back from the success in Paris it found a better reception in the richer audiences of Buenos Aires. The new place for Tango were the CABARETS, upgraded brothels.
 One of the first cabarets was called The Armenonville - located at the Plaza Grand Bourg, in an European style chalet.
 In 1913 they called for auditions and Robert Firpo was selected among many other musicians. It is the beginning of the PIANO as the leading instrument in tango.  The famous duo Gardel- Razzano also premiered there in 1913 while Firpo was playing. On the same night in 1913 Firpo premiered three of his compositions Sentimiento Criollo, Argañaraz and Marejada
 . He also debuted ALMA DE BOHEMIO at El Armenon, his most famous tango.

He was the composer of El apronte, El amanecer, El solitario, Fuegos artificiales, Didi, El rápido, La cumparsita (extra arrangement). He help to build musicians such as Osvaldo Fresedo and Pedro Maffia. He was the archetypal cabaret musician, so he also played at Palais de Glace, Royal de Pigalle.

He tells us about the most famous tango in the world: “La cumparsita” “ In 1916 I was playing in the café La Giralda in Montevideo, when one day a man was accompanied by about fifteen boys — all students — to say he brought a carnival march song and they wanted me to review it because they thought it could be a tango. They wanted me to revise and tweak the score that night because it was needed by a boy named Matos Rodríguez. In the 2/4 [march time signature] score there appeared a little [useful melody] in the first half and in the second half there was nothing. I got a piano and I remembered my two tangos composed in 1906 that had not had any success: "La gaucha Manuela" and "Curda completa". And I put in a little of each. At night I played the song with "Bachicha" Deambroggio and "Tito" Roccatagliatta. It was an apotheosis. Matos Rodríguez walked around like a champion. But the tango was forgotten, its later success began when the words of Enrique Maroni and Pascual Contursi were associated with it.”

My favorite Tangos are:

Mascarada

La carcajada

Fuegos artificiales