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"Her life was a movie..."
Interview to Tania
It was the time of "The Count of Luxemburg",
of "The Merry Widow", of the major operettas.
As my sister sang very well and was somewhat known, she told my mother:
"Look, Mom, I think that Anita shouldn´t call herself Ana Luciano,
because my name is great and this girl is only beginning. We don´t
know if she´ll go on in theater or not...". All this seems
a little bit ridiculous but it was so;.
Then I, very proud, -I would be 12 or 13 -, of acting
at school, said: "Yes, now I´m going to also call myself Tania
...". Many people think I chose Tania for it was Anita spelled
backwards. But, no, I did it for my little Russian friend who also sang
and danced.
-ARV:
So your professional career started...
 -TANIA:
When the cuplés became popular we engaged in short tours
in the vicinity of Valencia; as if from Buenos Aires we would go to
Lanús, to La Plata. Then I was called Tania and since then I
never managed to get rid of the name. I had begun to sing cuplés
alone. I was no longer "la telonera", that is to say, the first
to appear in the show. I was as third. And it came the time when a big
group was assembled to go to Paris and I was part of it under the name
Tania. Then I wanted to change it because I was a little conceited...
"Why can´t I be called Ana Luciano?". In brief: all was
in vain. From then on, I never succeeded in changing my name. Every
time I tried to do it, the empresario or the manager said that Tania
sounded very theatrical. So I was definitely Tania.
I married a very famous dancer called Antonio Fernández,
whose artistic name was "Mexicán" and
when I went to dance as "Tania-Mexicán. Dancing partners",
then I could have changed my name... but I didn´t, I went on with
Tania´s....
It´s a story so much told, even boring... I was
never able to change my name! I tried it many times but it seems I wasn´t
so lucky to have someone who would have said: "Yes, now we´ll
call you Ana Luciano". And so I remained.
- ARV:
How does Discépolo appear in your life?
- TANIA:
By chance. He heard me in Buenos Aires. They told him I sang very well.
I came to Buenos Aires as part of a great Spanish artistic company,
with famous dancers and singers: Teresita España, la Cachabella,
Pablo Palitos with the Trio, and I, who was called Tania Mexicán...
And so people began to know about Tania in Buenos Aires...
- ARV:
How did it happen to know him?
- TANIA:
I was singing as tonadillera a few tangos in the "Folies
Bergère" which was placed on Cerrito street. What
I really sang well were the Spanish cuplés. They said I interpreted
tango quite well. Till then the only tango figure I knew was Azucena
Maizani.
I had never heard someone singing tangos in that way.
When I listened to her and saw her, I was caught by her strength. I
heard her once singing "Esta noche me emborracho"
and said to myself, "If I could sing that tango...!". I had
the courage to sing anything, but not a tango... However, I learned
it with Andrés Caba, the pianist who accompanied me.... We rehearsed
and I sang it.
-ARV:
What was the public´s reaction?
-TANIA:
An extraordinary success. That tango had achieved an amazing popularity.
People was singing it in the streets... Well, a piece of it... and as
it was a difficult tango, -it´s not an easy tango...-, people said,
"Esta noche yo me mamo bien mamao, esta noche me emborracho bien"
(tonight I´m gonna get drunk) ... Then I, a young girl, pretty
and singing cuplés, sang that tango and it was a boom, besides
other tangos which maybe I would sing them so and so. But "Esta
noche me emborracho" seemed that I sang it well.
-ARV:
And did you meet him there?
-TANIA:
One night José Razzano heard me. He asked me if I knew Gardel
and he told me all about his history. To be frank, I didn´t know
Gardel as I didn´t know Roberto Casaux, neither Armando Discépolo,
nor Alberto Vaccarezza, ´cause I was a girl who has recently arrived.
I knew the important people in Spain, but not those in Buenos Aires.
And so Razzano told me: "Tomorrow you´re gonna sing again "Esta
noche me emborracho". I´ll come with a friend that is
its author".
It seems that Discépolo was not a cabaret customer
and Razzano forced him to go. Enrique, who was already 26, had never
been to a cabaret. It sounds funny, because it´s the age when boys
go to cabarets. But it was so.
- ARV:
Who did introduce him to you?
- TANIA:
Razzano. He began telling him that I was a girl who sang Spanish songs
and that now I also sang tangos, that I was much loved in the cabaret,
that my contract had been renewed, ... he told him my story. Enrique
heard me sing "Esta noche me emborracho" and
the next day he sent me flowers.
- ARV:
Very romantic...
- TANIA:
He sent me flowers, he sent me bonbons . For me, those things had no
importance because at that time admirers sent things more important
than flowers and bonbons... It seemed a very romantic affair, but for
a woman like me, young, 24 years old, there were too many flowers, too
much bonbons, too much I...
- ARV:
What did they tell you about Discépolo?
- TANIA:
That he was a good actor and also, author of this and other tangos.
Enrique himself told me he was an author and as an actor he was having
an enormous success, "Mustafá", written
by his brother, who was a great playwriter. ´Cause it seems that
all around me were greats... But I, nothing: for me they were perfect
strangers. I knew no one. If they talked me about Pastora Imperio or
Raquel Meller, I knew who they were. But for me –just arrived from
Spain- all these names were unknown no matter how important they were.
- ARV:
How about the first time you went out with Discépolo?
- TANIA:
One day he invited me and some friends of mine to tea. A few days later
he invited us again. We went to see "Mustafá".
I thought that with that title, it would be one of those plays like
Rodolfo Valentino´s... and when I arrived at the theater-I, so
ignorant-, it was a surprise. I was from Spain –and this is not
Spanish boast- I had seen Ricardo Calvo, Lola Membrives, Haydeé
de López Heredia, those greats. For me it had to be like in Spain.
So when the curtain rises, I see a guy with a small cart selling a thread
ribbon and who was saying : "Buy thread, señorita, poor Turk
is not selling anything". Luis Arata was there too, in the role
of an Italian...And I was saying for myself, "what kind of a theater!"
It seemed to me it was a joke, because I was remembering the one made
in Spain to which I was used to.
And then the lead actor, who had been sending me flowers,
appeared and I thought: "Now, yes. Rodolfo Valentino is coming to
scene....". But, it was Enrique in the role of a poor little Turk
selling thread ribbons, shoes, stockings...
When the play was over, Armando –very pedantically-,
asked me: "How about the play?" and I replied: "I understood nothing".
It seems he later told his brother: "How ignorant is that girl.She
has not understood!". -"But she´s just arrived, Armando...".
They were all stars: Luisita Vehil, Rosa Catá, Miguel Faust Rocha...But
what I didn´t understand was the play, and even less to know who
the actors were. And they were major players who later, after some time,
became very close friends. That´s the story of how we met.
- ARV:
What year was it?
- TANIA:
1927... when we started to go out.
- ARV:
What was Discépolo like? Shy, extrovert?
- TANIA:
He was more timid than I.
- ARV:
How did he suggest going out for the first time?
- TANIA:
Just like when he invited me to theater: to drink chocolate with a girl
friend. And we went out once... But Enrique didn´t invite me to
go anywhere with him, to go alone or let´s go... to any place,
how can I say? Or to tell me "I´ve got an apartment"...
I´d have liked to take him home to tea! I owned a cozy apartment
on Uruguay street where I lived with two girls and I had everything
there. I wanted him to come, but he, very shameful, didn´t dare
to do it.
 -
ARV: Did Discépolo´s friends accept you
soon?
-TANIA:
Once he decided to introduce them to me. They used to meet at "El
Tropezón" and his brother told him: "Yes, bring
her one evening so the boys will know her". Armando was a pedant
since the day I met him! I arrived at "El Tropezón"
driving my car, a red open automobile. Then when I blew the horn and
Enrique came out to meet me, it seemed that a Madonna had arrived, because
(he might have thought) what's this that a girl would come to ask for
my brother? And they invited me to their table. All them very kind...,
they all kissed me... how cute..! how nice..! the pretty little Spaniard!
They were la Bertolín, Alfonsina Storni, Roberto Tálice,
Paulina Singerman and her husband, Edmundo "Pucho" Guibourg... All stars!
They took me as a rare thing because I was pretty, I had some small
jewels and had arrived on a red voiture. The truth is that I arrived
as ... I looked like a dog on a boat! But OK..., I passed the exam:
I was very pleasant for them all.
- ARV:
And as for you, how did you receive them?
-TANIA:
Very boring, 'cause I didn't catch a thing of what they were talking.
I was there for an hour and their only issue was how to do to get money
to present "Fábrica de juventud", "Levántate
y anda", "Fin de jornada", "La Perichona"... They didn't
speak of anything else... Imagine! I had seen in Spain "The
Count of Luxemburg" and "The Merry Widow"...
I didn't understand anything at all...
People do not want to realize that my start in Buenos
Aires was with very much important people. I could have begun going
to Avenida de Mayo to drink chocolate with churros (crullers)
with my compatriots. But, Paf!, all of a sudden I arrived at
Enrique's world.... I knew nothing of the Buenos Aires of Discépolo
and his friends. Furthermore, I didn't understand them. They wanted
to do everything and no one had money. They could only have a little
cup of coffee... I sang at a night club where people drank champagne
and the customers were the Anchorenas, Unzué, Basabilbaso, Lanusse
and this and that. Those were the names I knew... true kings... Those
were the ones I frequented.
Once, and after having heard them discuss about the
plays and the way to make them reality, it occurred to me to tell them:
"Well, if you need some money, I can pawn a brilliant and give you
a loan". They were going to put forward "La Perichona"
and it turned out that they didn't even have money to make the 22 small
top hats used by the "dandies", who were the players, very smartly dressed,
walking on the stage.
It seems that the beast who made them their clothes
said: "Don't put on hats. Let them shiver. There's nothing, not
even for hats!". But Paulina Singerman kept on talking... and the
other kept on talking..., they all kept on talking... Armando, of course.
All them..! So I pawned my brilliant and the play was put on stage.
- ARV:
How did your personal relationship with Discépolo begin?
-TANIA:
He didn't ask me to come home to have coffee or ... whatever... ¡More
explicitly I can't tell you..!. Until one day he told me: "I rented
a small but nice apartment on Cangallo street, near "El Tropezón".
Downstairs Roberto Noble, a great journalist, lives and he told me there
was a small apartment available, so I rented it. I live now there, but
alone. Not with my brother. Why don't you come to have a coffee?"
- ARV:
What was your reaction?
-TANIA:
I was delighted! And so I went. But just in case, I took a small suitcase
with a nightdress, a very cute robe full of laces, slippers and a few
things more so that the next day I would get up and go home. But I stayed...
and stayed forever... At that small apartment with a heater for the
house. And so the story ends.
- ARV:
Or so it starts...
-TANIA:
He wanted to but he didn´t say it. For me the whole affair was
somewhat queer because I was more fashioned. I was used to deal with
more experienced people who told me: "D´you want to go to bed
with me?... I´ll give you a bracelet". - "No, sir. I don´t
lay with you...". I talked one language and Discépolo talked
another. Later both languages got together...
- ARV:
Did you argue very much?
-TANIA:
We never quarrelled, we never slammed a door, never a "I´m leaving
and I´m not coming back...", like all married couples... But not
us.
- ARV:
Why didn´t you marry?
-TANIA:
I had broken up with my husband in Montevideo and I did not want to
marry again because, as we said, Enrique and I, "the people had
already married us". Enrique also asked me: "¿D´you wanna
marry me?". -"No", was always my answer. Then, why should we
marry ? And we didn´t.
So went on our life and we never broke up. That tango
which says "¡Araca victoria se fue mi mujer!"
(hurrah, my woman´s gone now!) he didn´t write it for me,
because I never left him. So we lived till the end of our lives. Too
many joys, many booms, little money, ´cause we´ve never been
well-to-do people. We´ve always worked hard. When he could have
had money, the wages were not as today in the movies or in TV. Enrique
worked a lot on radio but we never were rich. And so we always lived.
- ARV:
Was he sad sometimes?
-TANIA:
The end of his life was very painful... He died very sad. It´s
the only thing that at times moves me. He, who had always lived so well.
Homero Manzi said he was "Don Fulgencio, the man
who never had a childhood". We were always happy. Enrique didn´t
have great sorrows, except when that affair about Perón happened,
which made him very sad each day. Had he been any other, he would have
suffered less.
- ARV:
What was his worst sadness?
-TANIA:
The lack of friends. He thought he was loved but he was despised. He
suffered the absence of companions, of friends who would help him. Finally,
he died because he wanted to die. ´Cause the more help Perón
gave him, -not in money but in tenderness-, the more sad he felt by
the way his partners behaved.
- ARV:
At home, intimately, was he good-tempered, bad-humored, cheerful, taciturn,
talkative, pensive?
-TANIA:
Cheerful! He liked people. He was very close of his friends, .... they
were all drunkards: Troilo, el Dringue Farías. As Enrique didn´t
drink, he didn´t stay with them when they started to drink.
- ARV:
Didn't he drink alcohol?
-TANIA:
Yes, but very little. He drank three whiskies but he did not get drunk.
The others got drunk, and even other things..., because they led a different
life... el Dringue, Carlitos Castro "Castrito", Troilo. But
he was closer to Manzi, to Cátulo Castillo, to Paco García
Jiménez, to his comrades in SADAIC. He was also a very close
friend of Osvaldo Miranda, of Francisco Lomuto, of Francisco Canaro.
He found funny what Canaro and Lomuto did.
- ARV:
What urged him to compose a tango, that thing so alleged of inspiration?
How did an idea come out?
-TANIA:
I never knew, never. Sometimes he read me a bit of something he was
doing and told me: "D´you like it?". –"Yes, it´s
pretty" I answered. Some other times, when he had it all written,
and I thought he was about to read it for me, he said: "You won´t
like it..." and he tore it up. So I don´t know if I would
have liked it or not, ´cause he tore it up. Later, when Enrique
had a tango he liked, instead of discussing with Manzi, or with Troilo,
he called the doorkeeper or Manuela, our cook.
- ARV:
Did he show it to them?
-TANIA:
Also to Tomasito, who sold newspapers at the corner of the street. Today
he´s rich. Enrique talked to him very much, he gave him some advise...
Tomasito, now, wherever he goes, talks about this and people do not
believe he was so close friend of Enrique's and that he read his tangos
to him when they were still in process.
- ARV:
To see how they reacted?
-TANIA:
Surely so. For example, it would have been wiser to call Manzi to ask
him: "Do you like it?" But no, he first called Manuela, the
little Turk who sold cigarettes, the apartment doorkeeper, Tomasito...
And all of a sudden he commented: "They didn´t understand it"
and that made him happy. It seems silly and it is so: they hadn´t
liked it and Enrique was happy. "They understood nothing",
he said...
- ARV:
Did he read the new tangos to you?
-TANIA:
He read me "Yira Yira" and I understood nothing.
I always recall that we were living in the little apartment on Cangallo
street. Sofía Bozán premiered it at Teatro Sarmiento in
the revue "What shall we do with the stadium" and it was sung by everybody
on the streets. Once a guy stopped him and told him: "What a mind!".
"Yes, -answered Enrique-, today they cut me the gas." And he
explained to this person he didn´t know, why they had cut us the
gas: we had no money to pay it. My husband wasn´t normal, ¿was
he? If I´m told "how nice you sing!", I neither tell them
a story, nor do I say "Yes, but I cannot pay the gas". My husband
wasn´t normal...
- ARV:
Did he like poetry?
-TANIA:
Yes, he read a lot. About everything.
- ARV:
He didn´t know music, how did he compose?
-TANIA:
On the piano, but he hardly played a few notes because he did it by
ear, he did not know music. What he wrote was corrected by those who
knew how to write music. It was hard for them to understand how he managed
to compose and then write on a paper "do", "re", "sol", and
so... Afterwards, the great musicians of that time came, and fortunately,
out of "ta, ta, ta, do, mi, sol, mi", turned out what he wanted.
When he was putting together his written music in "do", "sol", "mi",
came his musicians-friends and told him that it was not even, so Enrique
answered them: "It doesn´t matter. It is that way". That´s
why many of his tangos go from here to there. They´re not as even
as some other composers´ tangos.
- ARV:
What memories did he recall of his childhood?
-TANIA:
None. He had never played, neither marbles, nor did he own a bicycle,
because he was with a very rich uncle and an aunt who dressed him as
a clown everyday... He was put on a tuxedo, a small tie to dine and
that hurt him very much. Enrique began to play and to do children things
when he met me. He´d never got a bike. It wasn´t because he
was poor..., it´s the other way around. The poor one was his brother.
Enrique lived with these rich relatives, but he was
poorer than anyone ´cause he didn´t play marbles, he didn´t
ride on bicycle. He was taken to kindergarten and he was brought back
home. He had no family affections.
- ARV:
So the memories of his childhood...
-TANIA:
Were sad. Manzi always said that he started to have fun since he met
me.
- ARV:
Who were his confident friends?
-TANIA:
He had so many friends but not a confident, that confident friend that
some have.
- ARV:
In his lyrics there is a constant presence of God. Was he a believer?
-TANIA:
He wasn´t a man of religious practice. When (Francisco) Lomuto
died, a Mass with his corpse present was celebrated in San Nicolás
church... He arrived home very tired. As he had been so late I asked
what had happened to him. -"What a show! It´s a wonder what
I´ve seen. What a luxury!, What costumes! It´s a show, the
biggest show you can imagine", was his comment. He had much fun
alone with me... -"The golden suit; The white ones were changed
by the golden ones; they turned around the coffin and put a golden rug
on it, then another green... But if you had seen what a show... the
people´s luxury, all them with hats."
-"But what is it you´re telling me?".
-"It´s what I saw. Later three or four entered
by one side,all dressed in black, and got out in gold, just like the
revue at the Maipo theater".
- ARV:
But did he believe in God?
-TANIA:
I don´t know. I never knew. Some times when I brought some image
to the house he said to me: "¡Another new little saint, another
one more, what are you goin' to do?!" and suddenly he got into
a church and stayed for an hour watching a saint. That about Saint Blase
and the candles... All that, how shall I tell you?.. it would make you
laugh. -"A candle, what is going to happen?!" he commented.
But he didn't tell me: "Put it out". Monsignor Antonio Plaza used to
come home and I told him: "Don't come often, monsignor, because
you finally will do everything the other way around". 'Cause he
wanted to convert him... he was very funny.. Discépolo was a
very good-humored man.
- ARV:
What did amuse him?
-TANIA:
Little things. He didn't find amusement going to the races. He visited
the "Tibidabo" every night because Troilo
was playing. He had much fun with Zita (Aníbal Troilo's woman),
or with Blackie (Paloma Effron). I was not jealous. All his friends
played cards, bet on horses but he didn't play at all.
Then the Tibidabo's owner,
who adored him, bought for him a small machine just like the ones found
in the United States, those where you have to put a little coin into
it and there's a small hand inside choosing a prize. And while the others
were playing cards and quarrelled and some other had finished to sing
a tango, and kept on playing truco, Enrique had fun with the
little machine.
- ARV:
How did Discépolo get in touch with peronism?
-TANIA:
Neither I knew, nor did I worry about. Discépolo and Lomuto got
to know Perón in Chile, when he was military attaché to
the Embassy. It seems that Perón played truco with Lomuto. Though
Enrique didn't know how to play, he was always with them. Perón
was very fond of them both. When Perón came to Trabajo y Previsión
(Labour and Social Welfare), they always saw each other. Perón
was very affectionate. He was warm with everybody, with men and with
women. It seemed that he was in need of affection, but he also gave
affection. Perón called him almost daily. They were very close...
Why didn't he do that with Lomuto and did it with him? Who knows...
Enrique followed all what Perón said, which was all right with
him and defended him every time he could. But before the time Perón
was known. Imagine when he was Perón...!.
- ARV:
Did he know Evita?
-TANIA:
He was a great friend of Eva's. She used to phone him very often. Enrique
had her direct number. Eva invited him to dinner. Juan Duarte, Eva's
brother, one day told me: "Don't worry, if none of the two eats...".
They were very good friends...
- ARV:
How did he get acquainted with her?
-TANIA:
In the year 43 or 44, Discépolo was writing with much success
some radio shows for LR3-Radio Belgrano, owned by Mr. Jaime Yankelevich.
The radio station had a big door through which we, the stars, entered
and there was a smaller one, leading to the basement, through which
the second rate players were admitted.
One day Discépolo arrived at the radio by car
and a young woman tried to enter with him. On seeing her, the gatekeeper
stopped her. -"No, the lady, no". Enrique turned back and told
the gatekeeper: "The lady is coming with me and gets in through
here". He didn't know who she was and that was very often told
by Pierina Dealessi. And that young woman was Eva Duarte. And as Eva
had an extraordinary memory, she remembered what had happened on Radio
Belgrano and once, years later, she asked her assistants to call him,
she wanted to know him.
"That man is a gentleman", said Evita. She also
much loved Pierina, because when Eva arrived in Buenos Aires, she had
been sleeping many nights at Pierina's place, because of her affection,
not out of pity. She slept in her house because instead of being alone
at a boarding house, she had Pierina's affection and friendship. Eva
did not forget about those things.
- ARV:
Were you jealous?
-TANIA:
There was no reason. One night when Enrique arrived home very late,
I asked him what had delayed him and he told me: "D'you know what happens?
There's a girl who wants to go to bed with me but I don't feel like".
If you tell your wife that you don't want to fuck with someone, not
because you don't like it but because you don't feel like, -same as
I don't feel like going to the theater-, you can't be annoyed.
- ARV:
Had Discépolo any preference for one of his tangos?
-TANIA:
The last one. He always said that the last tango was the one he loved
most. Because he was like parents are: they love most the latest born
child. He always said that his latest tango was his latest song. And
he felt the same pain, thinking of a possible failure, that it would
not succeed in life. It needs protection.
When he composed a tango, he preferred this one
to be sung instead of "Uno", because that was the latest.
With "Cafetín de Buenos Aires" he had more fear
than with "Uno". That, I think, happens to all the
authors. Because they think that the last thing they've done won't be
able to surpass that previous thing that already is a boom.
- ARV:
What did he think of the so called modern tango, of the evolution which
tango underwent and is undergoing?
-TANIA:
He would have much admired Astor Piazzolla. We no longer remember, but
Francisco and Julio De Caro were a tremendous innovation. Today we talk
of Piazzolla, because he was like a bomb. But we have to think of the
brothers De Caro with the violin with trumpet (sic), the stops made
in the tangos. Discépolo much admired the De Caros. He thought
that each one had to do as he felt . I think that if he had lived enough
to know Piazzolla's work, he surely would have admired him. Or he would
have said: "How much I'd like to do it like that even though I can't".
- ARV:
Was he a friend of Gardel's?
-TANIA:
He had but a few contacts with him. They weren't very good friends,
really. They met when Gardel decided to record "Victoria!"
and when they shot the short films directed by Eduardo Morera. Gardel
was going to record "Yira Yira" and the record company
wanted them together to promote an advertisement.
- ARV:
So he didn't have a great friendship with Gardel.
-TANIA:
We became more friendly when we met in France. We made our début
in Paris and he was there with his musicians. But it wasn't a friendship
so close as the one with Troilo or with Manzi.
- ARV:
You told me about Troilo and Manzi but you don't name another great
contemporary author such as Enrique Cadícamo.
-TANIA:
Of course they knew each other, but they weren't so close. Discépolo
was open to everybody. At that time they often gathered in SADAIC. Today,
even though you want to, you cannot meet with so and so, 'cause you
don't have the time and the place they had. At SADAIC they had fun.
Canaro, who always was around there, said "conceto" and "coletivo" (instead
of concepto, colectivo) and Enrique remarked: "You have dropped some
consonants...". It was a joke, because he loved him very much.
- ARV:
What did Discépolo think and what do you think of folk (creole)
music?
-TANIA:
I like it very much and Enrique too. Some interpreters please me more
than others because I understand them better. What I don't like, and
I say it plainly, is the way of acting of some tangueros and tangueras.
- ARV:
Who are your preferred tango singers?
-TANIA:
Mercedes Simone, for example, had a great strength. Libertad Lamarque,
was more romantic. Azucena Maizani was strong, closer to the style I
sing. But now, what can I tell you?: "that boy sings better than that
one". Yes, soon one sings and I like him; another sings and I like him
more; but I couldn't tell you that… they keep me with my eyes open.
Goyeneche, for example, how great he was!; like that boy who died...
Jorge Falcón. They were boys who invented a way of singing, a
style. Now they sing, let's say, with much voice. I don't say if they
sing well or badly. I prefer the singer disseur, for example, Roberto
Rufino, who is an old man, but with a style I like.
- ARV:
What was friendship for Discépolo?
-TANIA:
Something very sacred. A friend is a friend. With a friend you can do
anything. And he, certainly, did much for his friends, and he was lucky...
For instance, I recall that Enrique had a Chilean friend who wanted
to present in Buenos Aires "Wax Museum". I don't know why he was not
given permission. This Chilean told Enrique: "I'm starving. You, who
are a friend of Perón's why don't you ask him to authorize my
permission to present the show?".
- ARV:
Did he get it?
-TANIA:
Discépolo had the luck each time he asked something, Perón
always said yes. Because Enrique never asked for himself. If you go
to ask Menem something for me is easier than if you ask something for
you. Since this many years have elapsed. A few days ago, this Chilean
friend called me because he was told I was ill. This man became a millionaire.
Each time I go to Chile he cares for me as if I would break into pieces.
Enrique has put forth many friends. For example, he loved the Jews.
Why did he love them? He had a Jewish friend in a bank, who once lent
him money but when he went to give it back, this friend told him: "No,
you still don't have to. When you get more you give it back."
Enrique was a grateful man. He did not forget those
things, events or details which now are lost or do not have the same
value. Some time before, I think, details have a lot of value. But now,
maybe because we are all in need, we don't assign importance to those
things. He, for example, having no money, has lent money and there were
people who lent him without having money.
He was a very peculiar friend and very fond of
women. I was never jealous. For example, he adored Zita, she seemed
her fiancée . They called each other everyday.
- ARV:
Have you very often returned to Spain?
-TANIA:
Two or three times...
- ARV:
Are you planning to go back?
-TANIA:
Yes, maybe we'd soon go. The last time I was there, it was fifteen years
ago.
- ARV:
Do you have family there?
-TANIA:
A niece, who lives in Valencia. Because my mother was Valencian. In
my family almost all were Valencians. The only Toledan is me.
Once we were with Enrique at a café in Madrid
where Lola Membrives introduced us to Federico García Lorca.
We had traveled to Madrid hired to perform at "El Palacio de
la Música". We became friends and García Lorca
told me something which I won´t forget... -"But how is it, you´ve
been is Spain for five days and nobody´s driven you to Toledo yet?".
And he said to Enrique: "I´m taking her tomorrow....". And he took
me to Toledo...
- ARV:
How was that?
-TANIA:
: We were with García Lorca, Lola Membrives, the guitarist Regino
Sáinz de la Maza and other friends. All them insisted on a visit
to Toledo. I say that they took me because they organized the trip.
Federico made the mayor of Toledo know that I was in town, that I was
born there and that I was an artist... So the mayor, at noon 12 o´clock,
ordered the Argentine Anthem and the Spanish Royal March to be played
at the Zocodober square. On that opportunity we were in Spain for a
short time, but García Lorca and Discépolo became good
friends. Federico was very nice, very amusing... Tango fascinated him.
"Esta noche me emborracho" was the one he liked most.
- ARV:
If you weren´t married, how were you granted the rights on Discépolo´s
works?...
-TANIA:
That´s a story... One day he told me: "I´m going to write
my will". After a time he did it. Not much later Manzi said to me: "I´m
going to be witness to Discépolo´s will". I replied that
Enrique already had one. So Manzi told me that that will wasn´t
the one that mattered because he was going to write a new one. And later,
a third will was drawn. Then I told him: "Enrique, why so many wills?.
It´s awful, it seems as if you were going to die tomorrow. Do you
always want to rewrite your will?".
- ARV:
Were there three wills?
-TANIA:
No. A fourth came afterwards, so he decided to give me an explanation.
"Do you know what happens, Mammy?, I don´t trust, because when
I die, I would not be pleased if you had to go to ask (Luis César)
Amadori,or (Carlos A.) Petit, or so and so, to hire you... I want you
to stay calm so that's the reason why I leave you these 42 apartments.
Yes, 42 tangos, waltzes... all what I have written. 42 apartments which
play by themselves. And the stairs do not break, the elevators are not
out of order, the tenants pay you, nobody will be a debtor, no one will
leave without paying... Imagine yourself with 42 apartments, with one
tenant leaving, with another who does not pay, that would drive you
crazy, Mammy... And if they are much or very little played, it doesn´t
matter: they´re 42".
Well, by then he had persuaded me. But he kept
on giving me explanations: "Furthermore, a young girl, very pretty,
is making me some injections. What about if all of a sudden I fall in
love with her and I change my mind to bequeath everything to her...?
Then, the will I have drawn is no longer valid... And a new will has
to be made!". Manzi, who knew all this story, looked at me and told
me: "Look, I can´t stand your husband any longer. I was witness
to four wills...". It really seemed a joke... It was like a theater
play...
- ARV:
Have you ever thought about writing a tango?
-TANIA:
No. Enrique said that one of the greatest joys in his life was to have
fallen in love with a woman who was not an intellectual. To be frank
I had nothing of an intellectual. I would have liked to be like Alfonsina
Storni. -"No..., no..., the way you are is all right. Don´t learn
anything more ´cause it won´t help you at all...".
- ARV:
How do you address each other?
-TANIA:
I called him Chachi and he called me Mammy. When he was in trouble or
very serious, he called me Tania. He never call me Anita. In addition,
we didn´t engage in arguments ´cause everything he did was
allright with me and what I did was perfect for him. We didn´t
have quarrels, such as not talking to each other...
- ARV:
Were you sorry for not having children?
-TANIA:
No, at least we never talked about that.
- ARV:
Didn´t he like kids?
-TANIA:
No, and I didn´t like them either.
- ARV:
What did he talk about with his friends?
-TANIA:
He very much laughed at the things they did. And he told me about them
very seriously. For example, he talked about a friend he loved very
much. "He´s very good looking, very intelligent, but such a fool...,
he does not know what he does. In Buenos Aires he takes a bath, dresses,
and tells his wife he has some business in Punta del Este. He goes to
the airport. He takes a plane. He arrives in Punta del Este and meets
his lover. They go out to lunch, later to the hotel. He has to undress,
go to bed with her. The next morning, he has to take a bath, go out
rushing to take the plane to Buenos Aires... To 'fuck'... so much work!?".
He said it as I tell you. It was a movie. All his
tales were narrated as in a movie. His life was a movie...
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