Enrique Delfino 'Delfy'(1895-1967)
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Delfino was a schooled musician, who added to his creative talent a
deep knowledge of piano mastery, of harmony and counterpoint. He had
the level of a concert player. Pioneer of "tango romanza", when he
composed, together with Juan Carlos Cobián, Sans souci, whose essential
features consisted in being a melodic tango, of lyric flight and
refined musicality. As a coincidence, at the same time, Pascual
Contursi introduced the lyrics with a plot to tango, with the verses of
Mi noche triste which associated to Gardel's creative voice gave birth
to "tango canción", that is noted for a lyric that tells us a story,
with a beginning, a development and an ending, generally dramatic. But
it is interesting to make clear that Contursi added verses of ad-lib
inspiration to known instrumental tangos. That is to say that his
creation was subsequent to music, he did not do it in communion with
the composer. Enrique Delfino is who, in the year 1920 created the
musical pattern for "tango canción". He reduced the structure in the
instrumental tangos that had as a rule three sections, to two sections
and agreed with the lyricist and playwright Samuel Linnig to write
Milonguita (Esthercita) that, according to my point of view, would be
strictly speaking the first "tango canción". This tango, possibly one
of his fundamental works, was premiered at the old teatro Opera on May
12, 1920, on occasion of the one-act farce "Delikatessen" by Samuel
Linnig and Alberto Weisbach, and the actress María Esther Podestá was
its first interpreter. Those who knew him used to say that the piano
was an appendage of Delfino's hands. He despised the rhythmic
conventionalism of "tango milonga" written on sheet music with the
typical accompaniment of habanera ("Tango is not played like that, it
has to be written as it really sounds," said Delfino). He complained of
having been copied and so he told the musician and musical critic
Pompeyo Camps: "Take my tango Araca la cana, put it to the test and
write its melody doubling the note values." Camps did it and from his
piano sprang up the notes and the melody of Mariano Mores's tango Adiós
pampa mía. He was ironical about Juan D'Arienzo's and Rodolfo Biagi's
styles, and he respectfully praised Fresedo's way and accepted Salgán
and Piazzolla, among the young. He was born in Buenos Aires by the turn
of the century and his early childhood was spent on the aisles of the
"Politeama" theater, at the corner of Corrientes Avenue and Paraná
Street. There his parents were the owners of the theater tearoom. When
they realized that the boy had abilities for music they sent him to a
musical institute in the city of Torino, Italy. On his comeback, having
a strong inclination to nightlife and bohemia, he fled to Montevideo
where he stayed for three years. He started to compose and play there,
working for a living under the nickname Delfy. He was humorist, fantasy
piano player, he made the audience laugh and sing. Back in Buenos
Aires, he joined the "Cuarteto de Maestros" with Osvaldo Fresedo, David
Rocatagliatta and Agesilao Ferrazzano. In 1920 he was one of the
members of the "Orquesta típica Select" also lined up by Fresedo and
Rocatagliatta, especially hired to record tangos in the United States
for the Victor label. As well he performed on radio, committed to disc
piano solos on "Nacional" and "Victor" records, and accompanied figures
such as Sofía Bozán, Azucena Maizani and other outstanding artists of
the period in recording sessions. He revered Verdi and Wagner, but his
preferred musician was Puccini. Such was his admiration for this
composer that the characters of the opera "La Bohème" revive in the
lyrics of his tango Griseta, that he wrote together with José González
Castillo. Delfino's creative trend is followed by other major musicians
of the quality of Juan Carlos Cobián, the brothers Julio and Francisco
De Caro, Osvaldo Fresedo and Joaquín Mora. He composed over two hundred
tangos, wrote music for the movies, for numerous theater plays and
toured several European countries, performing as a clownish player and
humorist. When he was asked how he made possible the coexistence of the
joy of his public appearances with the sentiment and seriousness of his
compositions, he replied: "My tangos are like me, kind of porteño, kind
of romantic, kind of nostalgic. The musical humorist is an artistic
ability I have, which gave me a certain recognition and made me very
happy." Among his most important tangos, true classics of the genre,
are: Re Fa Si, Milonguita, Haragán, La copa del olvido, Milonguita,
Bélgica, Araca corazón, Aquel tapado de armiño, Palermo, Padrino pelao,
Otario que andás penando, Ventanita florida, Lucecitas de mi pueblo,
Recuerdos de bohemia, Santa milonguita, Claudinette, Padre nuestro and
Al pie de la Santa Cruz. There was a time when everybody in Buenos
Aires sang his melodies, which were interpreted by the principal
orchestras and were sung by the best vocalists. The interpretation of
Milonguita, with Hugo del Carril's voice is touching, and what should
we say of the rendition of Griseta by Ignacio Corsini, where he sang
the whole refrain with a falsetto voice. If something evidences the
magnitude of his work, it's enough to say that Gardel recorded 26 of
his numbers, among which we highlight: Aquel tapado de armiño (with
lyrics by Manuel Romero), ¡Araca, la cana! (Ray Rada), Dicen que dicen
(Alberto Ballestero), Estampilla (Manuel Romero), Padre Nuestro
(Alberto Vacarezza), Palermo (Juan Villalba and Hermido Braga) and El
Rey del Cabaret (Manuel Romero). He was a lovable person, a gentleman,
but above all things, an exceptional musician that filled a wide space
in the Argentine music.