Ángel Sampedro Montero (12 January 1908 in

Vallecas Vallecas was a municipality of Spain that disappeared as such in 1950, when its annexation to the Municipality of Madrid was effectuated. Nowadays it is a large neighborhood of Madrid composed of two districts: Puente de Vallecas (population ...

, Madrid- 24 November 1973 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

, Argentina), better known as Angelillo, was a Spanish singer of popular songs in his time. He has been described as a "popular idol of the flamenco copla", a very particular style of

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura an ...

, along with

fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...

s, soleares, saetas, caracoles and

tarantas ''Tarantas'' and ''Taranto'' are two related styles ('' palos'') of Flamenco music, that originated in the ''Andalusian'' province of Almería. Each is characterized by a shared modality (F-sharp Phrygian) and harmonic progression (Bm–A7� ...

etc. He was also one of the earliest singers to sing in a forced

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...

in flamenco. He was also an actor in musical films of Andalusian folklore: He appeared in films such as ''

La hija de Juan Simón ''La hija de Juan Simón'' (''Juan Simón's Daughter'') is a musical play by Nemesio M. Sobrevila, which has been made into two Spanish films. It is also the name of the title track, and the song has been recorded by numerous artists such as Leon ...

'' (1935) and '' Suspiros de Triana'' (1955), becoming a film star for Filmófono and working with esteemed directors such as

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

, which led to him being nicknamed “the nightingale of Andalusia”. Angelillo was one of the most outspoken advocates of the Republic, with communist ideologies. He fled to Oran and from there, accompanied by

Sabicas Sabicas (proper name: Agustín Castellón Campos) (16 March 1912 – 14 April 1990) was a Spanish flamenco guitarist of Romani origin. Biography Sabicas was born in Pamplona, Spain, and began playing guitar at the age of five and made his perfor ...

, to Argentina, where he quickly gained immense popularity. He returned to Spain in the 1950s.

References

{{authority control Flamenco singers 1908 births 1973 deaths Spanish expatriates in Argentina Spanish communists Spanish republicans Spanish male film actors 20th-century Spanish male actors 20th-century Spanish singers 20th-century Spanish male singers