GLORIA TANGO - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Editor of the Newspaper La Nacion

Hugo del Carril was the stage name for Pierre Bruno Hugo Fontana (1912-1989), an Argentinian tango singer, actor and film director. While still young, Hugo del Carril became a popular radio personality in Argentina, and this eventually led to him to a career as a singer. Example of tunes strongly associated with him are: Al compás del corazón Sosiego en la noche Nubes de humo Igual que ayer Tres esquinas Nostalgias Desaliento Nada más Betinoti As an actor, del Carril became a great success with the public from his very first movie appearance, and he quickly rose to be one of the nation's most popular movie stars. During his 40 year long career in the movie business, del Carril appeared in approximately 50 different movies, despite also being a director from 1949 to his retirement in 1976. For some movies, he was the producer, the director and one of the actors. One of this most highly acclaimed movies was "Las Aguas Bajan Turbias" which premiered in 1952. In English, it was titled Dark River. Another well known del Carril movie is "Esta tierra es mía" from 1961 which participated in the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival.

Job Titles:

• Argentine President

Merello never married, but she was in a long-term relationship with the actor Luis Sandrini whom she first met while filming ¡Tango!. After being friends for a few years, they developed a romantic relationship in the late 1930s and Merello referred to him as the love of her life. They went to Mexico together in 1946, but she couldn't accompany him to Europe when he left in 1948. When Sandrini returned to South America, he met the actress Malvina Pastorino in Uruguay and the two got married in 1952.

Job Titles:

• Members of the Dallapé Orchestra

Olavi Virta (1915-1972), known as the King of Finnish Tango, recorded almost 600 songs between 1939 and 1966, and many of them are still classics in Finnish popular music. He received three gold records early in his career, for the songs Ennen kuolemaa, Tulisuudelma (El Choclo / Fire kiss) and La Cumparsita. Examples of some of his most highly acclaimed tangos are Täysikuu (Full moon), Punatukkaiselle tytölleni (For my red haired girl) and the abovementioned Ennen kuolemaa (Before death). In addition to tango, he recorded within several other genres, with songs such as Hopeinen kuu (Guarda che luna / Look at the moon), Poika varjoisalta kujalta (Guaglione / Boy from a dark alley) and Kultainen nuoruus (Golden youthhood). In the early 1950s, Virta performed as a part of the quartet Kipparikvartetti, where he was the second tenor. Olavi Virta was one of several stage names used by the man who was legally named Oskari Olavi Ilmén. Here are some examples of stage names that he came to use throughout his musical career: Olavi Virta Oskari Joki Oskari Illmen Paul Ström Pauli Virtanen Kaarto Vasa Kaarto Rio Salvador Letho Matti Erwin Ovan Olavi Virta is a stage name; the person behind the name was Oskari Olavi Ilmén, born in the small municipality Sysmä in southern Finland on 27 February 1915. He was born into a family where music was important; his mother played the mandolin and his father the violin. From the age of 8, Olavi learned how to play the piano, but he would eventually come to prefer the violin after being giften one by his father. Eventually, Olavi was accepted into a school associated with the famous Finnish orchestra Dallapé, and he started to perform together with his fellow school mates. Around this time, he also got his first singing lessons, from church musician Mauno Tamminen and the music teacher Olavi Nyberg. While doing his mandatory stint in the Finnish National Army in the mid-1930s, Olavi sang in the all-male choir Karjalan Laulu and received singing lessons from Nikolai "Ukko" Schamakoff.

Tita Merello (1904-2002) was an Argentine tango dancer, singer, actress and vedette. She was one of the stars of Argentina's Golden Age of Cinema. Throughout her long career, which spanned six decades - from the 1930s to the mid-1980s - she appeared in over 30 movies and 20 plays, as well as three different radio series. Examples of songs strongly associated with Merello are "La milonga y yo" and "Se dice de mi". Merello lived a very long life; she died in her hometown Buenos Aires on Christmas Eve 2002 at age 98. The house in Buenos Aires' San Telmo neighbourhood were Merello was born has been designated a historical site.