“Dad used to buy me encyclopedias of animals, history and geography… and I inherited a book from him – for me a treasure – Who is who in Argentina, where the characters of the world of our culture are”. The one who speaks is the son of Hugo del Carril, who far from bothering to be “the son of” considers it an honor. And although he began to sing as Hugo Fontana and later as Hugo del Carril Jr., one day he removed the junior from his name on the advice of Hugo Marcel. He says that his father gave him his artistic surname and on the cover of the old magazine Radiolandia he presented him as “My successor in tango”. He is now doing a show, “Dos para el tango”, together with the singer Laura Bogado, at the APSEE Auditorium, every Saturday in February until March 4, at 9:00 p.m. “It’s a recital; Laura starts with modern tangos, the musicians follow and then I go with older songs by Cadícamo, Lepera, Troilo”, he says.
His life and career are closely tied to his famous father. So much so that it began formally when he went to Aníbal Troilo’s house to receive an award for Hugo —the gold bandoneon— that he had become a widower a short time before and was discouraged. And that’s when the audience asked him to sing and, trembling, he lashed out at Garufa. A friend recorded it and gave the cassette to Hugo Sr. “Son, listen to yourself,” he told him. And there he began to study singing and prepare professionally. “He would sit at the piano, I would vocalize, he would teach me techniques to position the voice… but it was only a couple of years since he passed away. And I followed his style to sing tango; We have a similar voice and physiognomy. He would go on tour and I would ask mom to put a hat on me, a scarf around my neck, and dad’s records. He was only 3 years old and listening to him was a way of keeping him in mind, because his tours sometimes lasted six months ”, he recalls.
News: Is he Hugo’s only son? How does his family of origin fit in?
Hugo del Carril: I have three sisters. Amorina (56), Eva Cristina (53) and the eldest, Marcela, with whom none of them have a relationship, we don’t know where she is… All daughters of my mother, Violeta Courtois —deceased— with father, who died in 1989 at the age of 77 . Dad had five heart attacks. The first when Eva Perón died, who was criticized for not attending the wake. But he was in Uruguay.
News: Is the name Amorina due to the eponymous film that your father filmed with Tita Merello?
of the lane: Exactly. My dad invented it. I think that later there are two or three more Amorinas, but much younger.
News: You were born in 1965. Your father already had a long career in film and singing. And in 1975 he filmed what would be his last film, “I killed Facundo”. When you were ten years old, did you accompany him to the set? Was he involved in his work?
of the lane: That film was filmed over two long months in Córdoba, in Villa de Soto. And the whole family traveled. One day dad asked us if we wanted to work. My sister Eva participated as a farmer’s baby. And I appeared playing payana. Obviously we charge for the cameo! Since I can remember I accompanied my dad.
News: It will have many anecdotes…
of the lane: Clear. In Callao and Corrientes, in front of a restaurant called El Toboso, the People’s Tent was set up and I witnessed all the assembly… the thick sheet metal chairs, the sawdust floor… figures such as Dany Martin, Ámbar La Fox appeared there , Mariano Mores. It was the cheapest ticket of all the ticket offices, with a capacity for 3,000 people and a ticket that cost 5 pesos. I would have been about 6 years old, it was before we settled in Mexico.
News: Did they go to Mexico for political reasons?
of the lane: We traveled in 1972, we did not know why we were going to live in Mexico City. A change of school, of friends. Dad sang in a venue that was destroyed in the ’86 earthquake and did shows in New York.
News: Did you talk to your father about that film, La Cabalgata del circo (1945), where Libertad Lamarque and Eva Duarte —irreconcilable enemies— acted?
of the lane: At that time, dad had just met Eva. There was a discussion between the two, but the slapping thing did not happen… What did happen was that at that time, Luis Sandrini and dad were the highest paid artists. Dad had a difficult childhood, he was given to a French family at the age of 3… that’s why he helped whenever he could. One day, he and Eva sat next to each other to put on their makeup. And Eva asked him, “You earn a lot of money, don’t you?” To which she replied “And what does it matter to you!” She continued, “Excuse me. I thought that if you earn so much money, you could help the humblest”. Eva still had nothing to do with Perón and she already thought so. Later they became great friends.
News: His father said that although he had recorded a thousand songs, he was identified for recording the “Peronist March” (1946). Did he tell you about this?
of the lane: Eva called him and gave him the lyrics and music of the song —you will never know about its authors—. She modified the lyrics a bit and also the music, giving it a martial rhythm. It was in 1949. Dad was not sorry. But he once told me, “If I hadn’t recorded the ‘Peronist March’ you would have had a better future.” I told him not to worry, that Peronists and radicals admired him…
News: In 1976 Hugo del Carril was banned, during the coup and the military dictatorship of Videla. How did he experience that moment?
of the lane: I lived it very badly. Dad worked at a local in Lugano and wore a tuxedo and shoulder holster with a revolver because the threats were constant. He had a zero km military green Dodge Polara with a black roof; with the blow he removed the roof and had it painted cherry red. We lived in Palermo Chico, in front of Mirtha Legrand’s house, on the first floor with a balcony full of planters. I hid among the plants and shot the green Falcon that was stationed in front of the house with my compressed air rifle. They would die of laughter, but it gave me courage and I felt that I was protecting dad’s exit. Every day we had bomb or kidnapping threats. That’s why dad took us to and from school. We live in Recoleta and later in Palermo.
News: For a time he had a house museum in his honor…
of the lane: Yes, in my house in the Delta. They came from retirement centers, we would give them a tango show and then we would invite them to tour the three rooms where there were photographs, documents, suits, clothing, the machete that he used in the film “Las aguas bajan turbias”… In the future I have the idea of putting together a traveling museum.
News: Married with children?
of the lane: Yes, with Mirta Isabel Navarro (57) we have been together since we were 18 years old. We have a beautiful life and we had three children. The eldest, Hugo (32), a very good musician, lives in Río Negro, he sent me a recording where he plays Adiós Nonino on the guitar. Then came Matías (30) who died in an accident and the youngest Nicolás (19) who is also playing the guitar and sings about everything.
News: He was denounced by the Variety Artists union for fraudulent administration. What was that complaint?
of the lane: It came to nothing. The only thing they achieved was for me to go to the Ministry of Labor and request intervention. And they calmed down. Now there will be new elections where I will surely present myself. I worked there for 12 years. But it’s my fault for taking people I thought were a brother and turned out to be traitors.
News: You are a Peronist like your father. Do you think that for today’s artist it is convenient or wise to express political color?
del Carril: I express it because apart from my strong conviction, dad, who was a friend of Perón, told me the story firsthand. Kirchnerism is not within Peronism, never ever. That is why my first act against Néstor Kirchner was when Kirchnerism wanted to keep all the symbols of Peronism. They notified me and through Jerónimo Benegas, I had a meeting with Servini de Cubría to present myself at the hearing. And the first thing was to say that they were not going to have the “Peronist March” sung by my father or the Labor March. Neither the image, nor the shield. From that moment I had problems with Aníbal Fernández. The great Peronists like Oraldo Britos, to mention one, argue that Kirchnerism is not Peronism.
News: What is your opinion of the current government?
del Carril: I’m waiting for it to finish. It’s a jerk, it’s an invention. It is against nature. Does not exist. It is doing a lot of damage to all Argentines. They are making a ball out of us as a country. I don’t see improvements in anything, people are getting poorer, 6 out of 10 kids don’t eat… A president who says that the country’s problem is that old people live long or that inflation is in his mind is terrible.
News: What artistic projects do you have in the pipeline?
of the lane: By the end of April we have a show with six singers, couples of dancers and folkloric numbers. And then, through the Hugo del Carril Foundation, we are going to make the life of dad in the theater. A filmic part that needs to be edited and several frames with live numbers. From the day of his birth to his death.
