Tanda: Pugliese with Jorge Vidal

This tanda has been one of my favorites for a long time, but this is
quite challenging music, and I do not play it often. Here it goes:

Title	Orchestra	Singer	Year	BPM
Puente Alsina	Osvaldo Pugliese	Jorge Vidal	1949	65
La cieguita	Osvaldo Pugliese	Jorge Vidal	1949	63
Ventanita de arrabal	Osvaldo Pugliese	Jorge Vidal	1950	62
Barra querida	Osvaldo Pugliese	Jorge Vidal	1950	62

Here you can listen to the tanda on Spotify:


Michal Lavokah writes on milonga.co.uk:

In 1949, singer Jorge Vidal was homeless, and sleeping in the back of the bar where he performed. Pugliese discovered him and asked him to join his orchestra. Vidal agreed, but free spirit that he was he stayed only a year before going solo once again. They recorded only eight sides together.

Jorge Vidal (fra todotango)

This tanda, half of what they did together, consists solely of "Guardia Vieja" compositions. "Ventanita de arrabal", for instance, has been recorded by Juan Maglio and Francisco Canaro
(separately, of course) back in 1927. That song forms the climax of the tanda, at least for me, partly due to it's wonderful piano part. Listen to the achingly beautiful piano playing at 2:12:
Right before, the the violins dissolve the music into a moment of absolute tranquility. This is the same way the song introduced the voice of Vidal at 0:49, but this time Pugliese plays the theme pianissimo, almost caressing the keys, before Vidal takes over. Magnificent...

After this intense song, "Barra querida" wraps it up, starting with a more insisting beat. With the whistling (for instance at 0:36), my hope is that this song will restore the happy mood of the evening.