Michael Lavocah - Francisco Canaro (engl.)

Michael Lavocah

Tango Masters -  Francisco Canaro

 
328 Seiten, Paperback, 2021, in english Language

With countless stories, facts, cross-references, explanations and details Michael Lavocah spices up his now fifth biography of a tango orchestra leader.

The focus is, of course, the music or the musical development of 'El Kaiser', as the massive Canaro was called by his contemporaries. And a lot comes together here, because unlike the 'Big Four' Troilo, Pugliese, Di Sarli and D'Arienzo, with whom Lavocah dealt in his first four books, Canaro accompanied and shaped the rise of tango to the leading musical culture of Argentina almost from the beginning. Canaro was a busy tango entrepreneur, and in the main section Lavocah brings us closer to his many projects, such as revues, tango shows, or his failed foray into the film industry, in loosely lively language arranged by year.

About half of the pages are taken up by the impressively detailed researched reviews and analyses of emblematic, exemplary, outstanding, particularly musical or historically interesting tangos, valses and milongas. The effort that Michael has put into this can hardly be imagined large enough, since Canaro's oeuvre includes over 3,700 recordings. It is not surprising that this time there is no discography included.

This book, by far the most comprehensive in the Tango Masters series, once again sets standards and offers those interested in music history material for many hours of browsing and listening to the music examples and lets the reader immerse himself in five decades of tango history in an entertaining way.
(Review in Tangodanza 90 - 2.2022)