Drinking alcohol with pathos
LA ÚLTIMA COPA
La última copa was written 1926 by Francisco
Canaro (music) and Juan Andrés Caruso (lyrics). There are
various recordings from several decades. Canaro himself
recorded it five times with different singers. For the
comparison I chose Canaro's best singer, Charlo; and Tanturi
with Castillo, and Pugliese with Morán.
In the lyrics, the protagonist announces to
commit suicide and claims to drink his "last drink" now; why?
as always, because a woman has left him. One of many tangos about drinking alcohol.
These are the versions to compare:
Francisco Canaro with Charlo, recorded 13th of
May, 1931:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmW5WXujP04
Ricardo Tanturi with Alberto Castillo,recorded
29th of April, 1943:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc_LbkvRYVs
Osvaldo Pugliese with Alberto Morán, recorded 6th
of January, 1953:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDiVGo9CbuI
Canaro with Charlo:
The instrumental part sounds cheerful, with stong
regular rhythm, mostly played by the tutti in unison, and with
a short bandoneon solo before Charlo starts singing. Charlo is
an early master of phrasing, incarnating with heavy tongue a
drunken man. After the singing we hear a nice violin solo in
dialogue with the bandoneons, and then a strong bandoneon
variation.
Tanturi with Castillo:
Tanturi's orchestra sounds rich and full, with
warm and romantic violins, and nice piano transitions and
decorations. Alberto Castillo sings with a lot of passion,
sometimes in dialogue with gentle violins. After a short,
nicely phrased bandoneon solo, the singer comes back.
Pugliese with Morán:
In Osvaldo Pugliese's version, the drama is
expressed from the first bar in the orchestral introduction,
with suspension and volume dynamics. Alberto Morán comes in
early - it's actually a tango canción -, and he celebrates
each line of the lyrics with a tremendous spectrum of
expressions in his voice, and each line is accompanied in a
different way by the orchestra, from hard rhythm played with
bandoneon staccato to eery violins and weeping violins, with a
lovely moment of Camerano's solo violin .
(And we understand how Alberto Morán was at the
point to ruin his voice in Pugliese's orchestra)