El entrerriano - The story of “El entrerriano” and its main recordings

ith this number the three-section structure that prevailed in the old trend tango began to spread and, a hundred years later, “El entrerriano” is still one of the greatest classics of the genre.

It was back in the first decade of the twentieth century when the many-sided Ángel Villoldo added lyrics to it for the showcasing of the actress, dancer and, sometimes, singer Pepita Avellaneda.

Later, other authors tried their luck by writing other lyrics to that same music: H. Semino, S. Retondaro, Vicente Planells del Campo and Oscar Amor, Julián Porteño and Homero Expósito. The one by Expósito is, no doubt, the best among all those texts.

In 1897 Anselmo Rosendo Mendizábal —that signed his tangos as "A. Rosendo"— used to play in the evenings at the “little house” run by María Rangolla, "La Vasca". Those were hard days; the biggest portion of the money the musicians got were generous tips, but for that they had to dedicate some composition to an occasional donor. That, precisely, was the case of the tango that Mendizábal played for the first time on the piano of “La Vasca” on October 25 that year.

The canyengue liveliness of the melody amazed the audience from the first bar. The dancer José Guidobono —who was present— was unable to dance as he used to do because he was paralyzed by the spell of those music notes. When the number was finished he approached the composer and suggested him: «Why don’t you dedicate it to Segovia?»

He was referring to Ricardo Segovia, a landowner from Entre Ríos, who was making whoopee in the Buenos Aires nights. Mendizábal told him he would honor him by naming “El entrerriano” his new tango.

When the sheet music was released the cattleman was obviously proud when he saw the dedication printed on the front cover: «To Mr. Ricardo Segovia». The composer’s pockets as well were nurtured by one hundred pesos that came from the generous hand of the rich man from the littoral zone.

Some recordings of “El entrerriano”:

Orchestra Eduardo Arolas (1913)
Quinteto Criollo “Tano Genaro” Dir: Genaro Espósito (1913)
Orchestra Roberto Firpo (1917, 1926 y 1940)
Orchestra Francisco Canaro (1927, 1929 y 1952)
Orchestra Osvaldo Fresedo (1927, 1944 y 1979)
Orchestra Típica Victor (1927)
Orchestra Julio De Caro (1930)
Orchestra Pedro Maffia (1930)
Orchestra Rodolfo Biagi (1941)
Orchestra Aníbal Troilo (1944 y 1952)
Orchestra Alfredo De Angelis (1946)
Orchestra Juan D’Arienzo (1946, 1954 y 1963)
Quartet Juan Cambareri (1949)
Orchestra Carlos Demaría (1950)
Tercet Ciriaco Ortiz (1951)
Orchestra Francini-Pontier (1952)
Orchestra Juan Canaro (1954)
Octet Astor Piazzolla “Octeto Buenos Aires” (1957)
Orchestra Héctor Varela (1957)
Quintet Pirincho Dir: Francisco Canaro (1959)
Orchestra Horacio Salgán (1964)
Orchestra Armando Pontier (1965)
Orchestra Osvaldo Pugliese (1968)
Roberto Pansera (1983)
Guitar solo by Conrado López Torres (1989)
New York Tango Trio (1995)
Duet Hernán Oliva-Mito García (1997)
Quinteto Argentino De Cuerdas (1997)
Mauricio Marcelli and his group (1997)
Guillermo Zarba (piano) y Cuarteto “Todo Por Cuatro” (1998)
Duet Larralde-Altamura (2001)
Duet Salgán-De Lío (2001)
Orchestra Tango Orkestret and Marcelo Nisinman (2001)
Orchestra Los Mancifestas (2003)
Sextet Fabio Hager (2005)
Liliana Barrios (voice) with group Dir: Juan Carlos Cuacci (2008)
Tercet Claudio Aristimuño (2009)
Guitar solo by Mirta Álvarez (2011)
Quartet Guardia Vieja
Quartet José Basso "Pepe y su cuarteto loco"
Quartet Los Porteñitos
Quartet Oscar Bozzarelli
Quartet Palais De Glace
Guitar duet Rafael Iriarte-Rosendo Pesoa
Guitars by Adolfo Berón
Orchestra Carlos Buono
Orchestra Donato Racciatti
Orchestra Enzo Firpo
Orchestra Jorge Dragone
Orchestra Lorenzo Barbero
Orchestra Porfirio Díaz
Quintet José Libertella
Quintet Mouro-Maquieira
Piano solo by José Tinelli
Tercet Los Nativos