Edgardo Donato
I can give no better introduction to Edgardo Donato, the composer of A Media Luz, than these words of Ricardo Garcia Blaya, director of todotango.com:
In the early 30s Donato pushed a rhythm style that helps us understand a related style that was developed later by Juan D'Arienzo.
Donato's is certainly an orchestra with a lot of rhythm. Whilst D'Arienzo's rhythm was insistent, Donato's is joyful. He doesn't demand that we dance; his music simply dances, and charms us into dancing along with it. His milongas in particular are very playful.
Edgardo Donato on CD
There are few CDs of Donato available, but luckily all are good.
We begin with this CD on Coleccíon 78rpm.
Like all the discs on this label it has been transferred carefully from 78s in good condition and the fidelity is excellent.
There are too many good Donato tracks to get them all on one cd, but this disc has a fair crack:
El acomodo,
A media luz,
and the wonderful milonga
Ella es así
are all here.
I want more
Simple: get the follow up on Coleccíon 78rpm 2 - fantastic milongas including El torito,
and Sácale punta.
Listen also to La melodía del corazón - a Chopin etude arranged as a tango. Some of you may have heard the version with an English lyric, So deep is the night which first appeared in I think 1939.
There are two Donato CDs on El Bandoneón and both are good. The first (EBCD-88) features more great milongas, of which Papas calientes can't be heard elsewhere. The real exclusive on this cd is the 1932 track El huracán
The second (EBCD-95) is redundant if you already have the Eurorecords disc.
For collectors though, the real interest on El Bandoneón is the third disc (EBCD-139).
The first half presents recordings from the Donato-Zerillo orchestra from 1928,
whilst the second half of the cd has Donato tracks from 1929-1931 .
The fidelity is disappointing, but the quality of the music is very high, revealing how innovative Donato was at this early time.
Where next...
- Back to building a library
- Milonga home page