Marcelo Alvarez Sings Gardel

This recording brings together Argentine tenor Marcelo lvarez, who only recently became famous as an opera singer, and Carlos Gardel, Argentine creator and singer of tangos, who became a national hero and a legend. Fortunately, Gardel recorded many of his songs (including those on this disc) before his tragic early death in 1935. The arranger transforms the final song into a surprise duet by adding Gardel's recorded voice to lvarez's. The popularity of these tangos is not surprising: Their melodies are beautiful, as simple and direct as their emotional appeal. The harmonies underline the changing moods, with verses alternating major and minor. lvarez clearly has a natural affinity for this music. His voice is light but intense; as on his debut recording of operatic arias, Bel canto, lvarez uses his voice well and varies it expressively, making the predominantly melancholy, yearning songs passionately full of lament, and suffusing the lively, cheerful dances with a smile. The strongly jazz-influenced arrangements use the instrumental combination for utmost variety. Each of the players--Argentine musicians to the manner born--gives a unique stylistic stamp to superbly imaginative improvisations. --Edith Eisler