Domingo Serafín Federico (4 June 1916 – 16 April 2000) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

bandoneonist,

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Life

Early life

He began playing the bandoneon and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

at the age of ten, guided by his father Francisco, in

Carmen de Patagones Carmen de Patagones is the southernmost city in the . Geography It is located 937 km southwest from the city of Buenos Aires, on the north bank of the Río Negro ("Black River"), near the Atlantic Ocean, and opposite Viedma, capital of ...

. They were living there after having moved from Buenos Aires. Later, they returned to Buenos Aires, where he resumed secondary school. He refined his skills under Pedro Maffia. He led his first orchestra in 1932. He later directed a "Ladies' Orchestra," in which his sister Nélida Federico also played the bandoneon.

Career

He performed with the orchestras of Alejandro Scarpino and Ricardo Luis Brignolo. A major breakthrough came when he joined Juan Canaro's orchestra, with which he recorded and participated in numerous performances. He joined Miguel Caló’s orchestra as first bandoneonist, along with Enrique Francini, Armando Pontier, and Osmar Maderna—forming what was known as the "Orquesta de las Estrellas" ("Orchestra of the Stars.") He met Homero Expósito, blending music and poetry. Together, they produced: * ''Al compás del corazón'' * ''Yuyo verde'' * ''Percal'' * ''Tristezas de la calle Corrientes'' * ''A bailar'' * ''Yo soy el tango'' On June 16, 1943, he debuted with his own orchestra, which featured numerous singers: Carlos Vidal, Oscar Larroca, Armando Moreno, Enzo Valentino, and Mario Bustos. He recorded more than one hundred compositions, but the record label preserved only eighteen masters, which are now collector's items. In 1957, he settled in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

, where he partnered with Haydée Cardón. He led a large orchestra with prominent musicians from Rosario, and featured the voices of Rubén Sánchez and Rubén Maciel. He also performed as part of the "Trío Saludos" on radio and television, and made recordings for Victor, Embassy, and Rosafon, as well as performing at dances, theaters, and in musical comedies. He conducted 45 tours across Argentina and Latin American countries, and gave 120 recitals in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

as bandoneonist in Francisco Canaro’s orchestra in 1961, and later leading the quintet "A lo Pirincho."

Later life and death

Even shortly before his death, at age 83, he continued to lead his University Bandoneón Chair—the first and only one of its kind in the world. He was recording with the "Tango Youth Orchestra" of the

National University of Rosario The National University of Rosario (, UNR) is a research public university located in the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina. Overview Rosario National University (UNR) was created in 1968 by Law 17.987. Its foundational struct ...

, which he had founded in 1994, and was preparing performances scheduled for April 30, 2000, at Teatro El Círculo. He died in Rosario, on 6 April 2000.

Filmography

Actor

* ''La diosa impura'' (1963) * ''La historia del tango'' (1951) * ''El cantor del pueblo'' (1951) * ''Al compás de tu mentira'' (1950) * ''El ídolo del tango'' (1949) * ''Otra cosa es con guitarra'' (1949) * ''Un tropezón cualquiera da en la vida'' (1949)

Composer

* ''La diosa impura'' (1963) * ''Embrujo en Cerros Blancos'' (1955) * ''El morocho del Abasto: La vida de Carlos Gardel'' (1950) * ''Imitaciones peligrosas'' (1949)

Theme Song Composer

* ''La muerte flota en el río'' (1956)

Music Director

* ''El cantor del pueblo'' (1951) * ''Otra cosa es con guitarra'' (1949)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Federico, Domingo 1916 births 2000 deaths Argentine male songwriters Argentine bandoneonists Musicians from Buenos Aires Male actors from Buenos Aires 20th-century Argentine male musicians