1933 – 1935
In the tango world, there is one tango that absolutely everyone knows. People even know its title — which isn’t true for every tango piece. When it begins to play, it’s impossible not to want to dance: it’s so beautiful and nice to move to. This tango is rarely played at the beginning of the evening; it’s saved as something precious for the peak of the milonga, when all the tangueros have already gathered. It was, and still remains, most popular in its original 1935 recording by Francisco Canaro’s orchestra with Roberto Maida on vocals. Nowadays, it’s also beloved among DJs thanks to the Romantica Milonguera’s remake.
And of course, I’m speaking about “Poema”.
But not everyone knows that this tango actually came to Argentina from Europe — not the other way around. Indeed, both the music and the lyrics were created in Europe around 1932–33, because both the lyricist Eduardo Bianco and the composer Mario Melfi were living and working there at the time. Later, the tango reached Argentina, where it was recorded by Francisco Canaro’s orchestra in 1935 in the version we all love and still dance to at milongas. The composer Mario Melfi spent all his adult life in Europe and is buried in Arcachon, near Bordeaux.
I love both the classic Canaro version and the one by Romantica Milonguera. And for me, the most beautiful danced interpretation will always be Chicho Frumboli and Eugenia Parilla performing to Canaro’s timeless original.