Orquesta Típica Victor (OTV) - Overview

From the beginnings of tango "industry" some of the recording companies were creating their own tango orchestras. Their main purpose was to represent the companies and make recordings. They usually did not perform in public. Example of such orchestras are: Orquesta Típica Brunswick, Orquesta Típica Columbia, Orquesta Típica Select. But by far the most famous one was Orquesta Típica Victor (OTV).

The orchestra was created in 1925 and existed until 1944. Throughout its history many of the best tango musicians worked there. Adolfo Carabelli was the first leader of the orchestra. Among other famous names we could find bandoneonists: Luis Petruccelli , Ciriaco Ortiz, Carlos Marcucci, Pedro Laurenz; violinists: Agesilao Ferrazzano, Elvino Vardaro, Antonio Buglione, Cayetano Puglisi. Most of those musicians have created their own orchestras after leaving OTV. Among the most important singers we should list: Roberto Díaz, Carlos Lafuente, Alberto Gómez, Ernesto Famá, Luis Díaz, Ortega del Cerro, Angel Vargas.

Between 1925 and 1937 the orchestra was recording in Guardia Vieja style. Later on it followed trend and moved to the Golden Age style. To read about the difference between those styles please check one of my previous posts: Guardia Vieja vs Golden Age.

In the repertoire we will find very wide selection of tangos but also many valses and a few milongas. In my next posts I will write more about them and give many examples...

For more detailed information please go to:
Todo Tango - Orquesta Típica Victor

Osvaldo Fresedo - Overview

Osvaldo Fresedo is one of the most interesting characters in the history of tango. He was apparently the longest recording tango musician ever. My music collection indicates 60 years of recording (the first from 1920, the last from 1980). Todo Tango's biography mentions 63 years. That's a very long period and lots of things have happened during that time.

Not many people know that in the 1920ies and early 1930ies, Fresedo was recording in Guardia Vieja style (similar to Orquesta Tipica Victor, Adolfo Carabelli, etc...). Some of the recordings from that period are really amazing and I will surely write a separate post about them. I hope they will be becoming more popular and we will hear them more frequently in the milongas...

His most popular recordings come from the 1930ies and the 1940ies. During that period he developed his very particular and easy to recognize style. The music is very soft, romantic and it feels like it has some Hollywood touch. Fresedo's orchestra from that time could hardly be called "Típica". A¨normal¨ orchestra "típica" (as it is the case of the most famous tango orchestras) includes: violins, bandoneóns, piano, and double bass.. Fresedo's orchestra on top of the standard instruments  included harp, vibraphone and drums. That surely contributed to his unique style.

During the 1950ies his music gets a more jazzy flavour. It's still very good and danceable (though I would not play it in milongas too often). Later recordings are rather interesting for listening only.

Fresedo's discography is quite big (more than 1000 recordings), but one can hardly find any songs suitable for dancing milongas and valses. As far as I remember I have heard only once a tanda of Fresedo's valses (during La Latina marathon in Rome). I liked it a lot, but I'd treat is as something special and keep it for only very rare occassions.

Fresedo had quite many prominent singers recording with his orchestra. Below I list the main ones:

Early Period / Guardia Vieja style (1920 - 1932)

• Ernesto Famá
• Ada Falcón
• Teófilo Ibañez
• Luis Díaz

 Middle Period / Hollywood style (1932 - 1950)

• Roberto Ray
• Ricardo Ruiz
• Carlos Mayel
• Oscar Serpa

Late Period / Jazzy Fresedo (after 1950)

• Héctor Pacheco
• Armando Garrido

The singers from the early period are surely more known from their recordings with different orchestras: Ernesto Famá with di Sarli and Canaro, Ada Falcón with Canaro, Teofilo Ibañez with Biagi, Luis Díaz with Orchestra Típica Victor and Edgardo Donato.

That's enough for now, let's move to the next post to listen to some music and watch some videos.

Adolfo Carabelli

Orchestra: Adolfo Carabelli

Singer(s): Alberto Gómez, Charlo, Carlos Lafuente, Luis Díaz, Instrumental


Period: 1930–1934

Comment:

The name of Adolfo Carabelli is not so widely known between tango dancers. Yet his orchestra brings us the best songs from Guardia Vieja period and is very frequently played in milongas. They are great for beginners (easy, rhythmical, not too fast) but also for advanced dancers (generally playful, but sometimes quite romantic, lyrical).


DJ:
There were hundreds of orchestras playing Guardia Vieja style. If you invest some time (and money) you can discover lots of less popular recordings with very good quality of sound and great for playing in milongas. You can do it... Alternatively you can stick to the most known and popular names. Dancers in your milongas will be probably happy with both solutions. In the first case they enjoy new, unknown yet easy to dance songs (just don't experiment too much :). If you decide to stay with the most popular names, your dancers will enjoy the comfort of dancing to the songs they know well and like. This comfort will allow them discover new opportunities in their dance, be more relaxed, play more, have more fun from the dance... If we talk about the popular or big names of Guardia Vieja: 2 orquestas will always come up: Adolfo Carabelli and Orquesta Típica Victor (whose director for some years was..... Adolfo Carabelli).


For detailed biographical and discographical information please go to:
Todo Tango - Adolfo Carabelli


Song examples:

Alma, Orquesta Adolfo Carabelli, Canta Alberto Gomez, 1932
Bailan Federico Naveira - Inés Muzzopappa

Por Que?, Orquesta Adolfo Carabelli, Canta Alberto Gomez, 1932, Bailan Pablo Inza - Eugenia Parilla

Olvidao, Orquesta Adolfo Carabelli, Canta Charlo, 1932

Cuatro Palabras, Orquesta Adolfo Carabelli, Canta Charlo, 1933, Bailan Murat Erdemsel - Michelle Erdemsel

Mentira, Orquesta Adolfo Carabelli, Canta Carlos Lafuente, 1931

El Pensamiento, Orquesta Adolfo Carabelli, Canta Carlos Lafuente, 1932

Felicia, Orquesta Adolfo Carabelli, Instrumental, 1932

El Cabure, Orquesta Adolfo Carabelli, Instrumental 1933