Sometimes, when you least expect it, you make special discoveries. Like yesterday, when I was thinking about a tanda to “Dime mi Amor” by Juan D’Arienzo with Hector Maure. A search in my database turned up two alternative versions: a very good reproduction by Solo Tango Orquesta and a version by Sabina Olmos. I thought I knew most tango singers, but this name was new to me. The version began with a vocal part accompanied only by the orchestra, with a predominantly lyrical timbre in a voice that sounded somewhat high and a bit unusual for a tango singer. So, who is Sabina Olmos? Let’s find out!
Here’s the YouTube version:
The first thing you notice is that the orchestra plays a strong rhythmic drive in a short interlude (perhaps inspired by D’Arienzo?). However, that’s not quite right; the version with Sabina Olmos on OTV dates from December 1940, while D’Arienzo’s version was recorded in May 1941. The tango was composed by Rodolfo Sciammarella, with lyrics by Manuel Romero, a well-known lyricist who collaborated extensively with Sciammarella. The OTV version with Olmos is therefore the earlier and potentially more authentic one. I won’t introduce the more famous version by Juan D’Arienzo here (it comes later), because it tends to fixate the listener on a particular style, especially if you’ve heard the tango many times at milongas.
The song has a romantic feel and somewhat sad lyrics:
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con mi brazo ciñiendo tu cintura, murmurando mil frases de cariño, entreviendo mil cielos de ventura. Yo quisiera saber si hay en tu pecho, todavía, esperanza para mí, si la ausencia y la distancia no han borrado el amor que yo en tus ojos entreví. dime mi amor si aún me quieres; si la ausencia no mató tu querer, si hoy, como ayer, puedo creer… Dime mi amor, dime mi amor si aún prefieres mi corazón que hoy para ti pongo en mi triste canción. con mi brazo ciñiendo tu cintura, murmurando mil frases de cariño, entreviendo mil cielos de ventura. Yo quisiera saber si hay en tu pecho todavía esperanza para mí, si la ausencia y la distancia no han borrado el amor que yo en tus ojos entreví. |
With the sleepy rhythm of our tango, with my arm around your waist whispering a thousand vows of love Describing a thousand heavens of happiness. I would like to know if in your heart There is still hope for me, whether absence and distance not The love I saw in your eyes has been extinguished. Tell me, my love. Tell me my love, whether you still love me; whether the absence hasn’t killed your love, whether I today, like yesterday can believe… Tell me my love, Tell me my love, whether you still my heart prefers which I have for you today in I’ll lay down this sad song. To the sleepy rhythm of our tango, with my arm around your waist whispering a thousand vows of love Describing a thousand heavens of happiness. I would like to know if in your heart There is still hope for me, whether absence and distance not They have extinguished the love I saw in your eyes. |
The tango was included in Manuel Romero’s 1941 film “Yo quiero ser bataclana” (I would like to be a cabaret singer), starring Niní Marshall, Juan Carlos Thorry, and Sabina Olmos. The film featured Juan D’Arienzo’s orchestra, and the song is sung as a duet.
Here is the relevant excerpt:
Shortly afterwards, D’Arienzo arranged the song for Hector Maure in his typical style. What remains is the curious dichotomy between the lyrical/sad theme and D’Arienzo’s lively rhythms.
Let’s take another look at Sabina Olmos’ biography!
Born in 1913 as Rosa Herminia Gomez Ramos in Balvanera, Buenos Aires. A trained milliner, she began studying singing in 1934 and was discovered at the age of 21 for a show on Radio Buenos Aires, where she initially performed as a folk song singer [4, 5]. Later she switched to other radio stations [2] and adopted the stage name Sabina Olmos. In 1937, she began her career as a film actress, where she was also allowed to sing tangos. Her specialty was dramatic roles, and it is no surprise that she was honored by the city of Buenos Aires as the best dramatic actress [5].
The highlight of her career was the film Carnaval de Antano by Manuel Romero in 1940. On the set, she met her future husband, Carlos Jose Perez de la Riestra, better known by his stage name Charlo, to whom she remained married from 1952 to 1969 [5]. Charlo and Sabina were friends of Evita Peron [3] and thus politically exposed. Accordingly, a professional ban after the fall of the Perón government in 1955 came as no surprise. Both were forced to undertake a Latin American tour and an extended stay in Spain and Portugal. After their return in the 1960s, Olmos was unable to regain a foothold in the film industry, and so she lost both her fortune and her marriage to Charlo, which ended in divorce in 1968. In total, she recorded 12 tracks with Charlo, accompanied by an orchestra conducted by Charlo [5] as well as five duets with Charlo. Smaller roles and work as an artistic advisor at Canal 11 followed. Charlo’s death in 1990 led to depression and ultimately to her suicide in 1999 when she jumped from the balcony of her ninth-floor apartment. Her ashes are interred in the Pantheon at the Chacarita Cemetery [3].
Literature
1 http://www.todotango.com/musica/tema/1116/Dime-mi-amor/
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabina_Olmos
3 https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabina_Olmos
4 Ludwig E, Tango Lexikon, Lexikon Imprint Verlag, Berlin 2002. S. 370
5 http://www.todotango.com/creadores/biografia/720/Sabina-Olmos/