Tango Quizzz n°50

TANGO QUIZZZ !

Which musician was always accompanied by one
brother for the concerts and why ?

 

The answer was PAQUITA BERNARDO, the first woman bandoneonist !
Born with the century, Paquita Bernardo was the first woman to play bandoneon at a professional level.
At the time, the bandoneon was really considered an instrument made for men, because of the playing position, with the legs wide open. Her parents were not really happy with the choice of Paquita, she had to have a lot of courage to impose herself.

It was also considered very inconvenient to go out alone for a young girl, and she had to be accompanied by one of her brothers (Enrique or Arturo) for every concert.
She became quite famous, got nicknamed “La flor de Villa Crespo” and even had her own tango band “el sexteto Orquesta Paquita” with a young Osvaldo Pugliese at the piano (he was 16 !). Gardel admired her work and even sang one of her song.

Unfortunately she died very young (25) from tuberculosis, and the only recording left from her got broken in the 60s …
After her, other women became bandeonists like Nélida Federico, Eva Méndez or Carla Algeri. She had opened a path !

Inspired by this www.tiempoar.com.ar great article :
https://www.tiempoar.com.ar/…/la-primera-mujer-que-se-atrev…

See u soon for another quiz !