[Tango-L] Screaming Tango singers

[c.roques@mchsi.com]

 Since none of us were around in the Golden Age, all responses will be speculative but two things come to mind. 
 First, the difference could be that back then orchestras played often at milongas for dancers, not at a stage show for seated listeners, as is the case today.  Someone emoting too strongly over a song could be distracting to dancers.  (Contemporary with tango orchestras, the great swing bands in the U.S. also had singers that complemented the dancing, often singing in very rhythmic phrasing.)  But also there seem to have been singers for listening to and singers for dancing to.  Perhaps the line between them was always thin, but certain ones were lauded for their danceability, notably Angel Vargas, Alberto Castillo, Raul Berón and others.   Even today, there are many tangos played that would not be heard in a milonga, in spite of their popularity, so the emotional rendering could just be the other side of the same coin, and coming from a country that loves opera as much as they do, it shouldn't be a surprise that the songs are belted out.  Perhaps that was also the case then.  Nowadays most of the orchestras perform for seated audiences, so the singer is the performer.  Were the songs in the show sung while dancing was going on, or were they meant to be solos? 


Second, how do we know they didn't belt them out when they sang live, even back then?  Studio recordings are carefully produced for sound levels, pitch, etc. and purposefully balanced.  Even today live bands and singers don't always reproduce the exact same sound as in the studio.


But mostly I would think that the reason is that orchestras and singers no longer perform for dancers.
Cheers,
Charles


-------------- Original message from Shahrukh Merchant <shahrukh at shahrukhmerchant.com>: -------------- 

> Went to see a Tango show tonight ... Corporación Tango's "Vibraciones 
> del Alma." Perhaps I'll post a review on that later, but mainly was 
> wondering (again) about the extremely unfortunate habit amongst 
> contemporary Tango singers, of "belting" their lyrics, often practically 
> to the point of screaming them.
> 
> None of the singers of the Golden Age seemed to need to do this (and 
> they had arguably weaker amplification equipment); on the contrary, they 
> were far more convincing in expressing the melancholy and 
> bitter-sweetness of the lyrics of their Tangos "pensively," rather than 
> screaming them like an infant having a tantrum (albeit in better tune).
> 
> But the audience (Argentine, foreigners, Tango dancers, non-dancers, 
> doesn't seem to matter) seems to love it. Or is it that they have been 
> conditioned into applauding automatically the louder he sings?
> 
> Is there no contemporary version of a Roberto Ray (just to pick one of 
> my favourite Tango "crooners," though I could have used almost any of 
> the classic singers as an example)? Is it an ego thing with the 
> contemporary Tango singers that they feel they have to overwhelm every 
> other instrument? Is there even anyone else on Tango-L who feels this 
> way (or who LIKES the "belting" style, which would actually be better in 
> some ways so I can try to understand the phenomenon ... even though I 
> doubt I will actually start to appreciate it)?
> 
> Shahrukh
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