Ataúlfo Argenta

Ataúlfo Exuperio Martín de Argenta Maza (19 November 1913 – 20 January 1958) was a Spanish conductor and pianist.

Argenta was born in Castro Urdiales, Cantabria, one of the two children, and the only son, of the local station master and a worker with the railways, Juan Martín de Argenta, and Laura Maza. Argenta showed a talent for singing as a youth, and sang in the church of Santa María. He later studied violin and piano. His teachers included Vicente Aznar and Blanco Justo. He went to school at Doctrina Cristiana, playing locally in the cinema and at Círculo Católico concerts. He suffered from tuberculosis as a youth.

In 1927, Argenta's family moved to Madrid, where his father worked in the head-office of the State Railways, and where Argenta began studies at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música (Madrid Conservatory). His teachers included Fernández Alberdi and Conrado de Campo. He won a Premio Extraordinario for piano in 1930. His fellow pupils included Juana Pallares Guisasola, his future wife, who herself won a Premio Extraordinario in her graduation year. Argenta also won the Kristina Nilsson Prize early in 1931.

After Juan Martín de Argenta's sudden death, the family moved to Liege, Belgium, to live with relatives. Argenta made his way back to Madrid to maintain his relationship with Juana. He worked various jobs, including time at the office of the State Railways, playing the piano in dance-halls and bars, and worked as an accompanist and music tutor. He spent his summers in or near Los Molinos, near Madrid, where the Pallares family spent their summers. He continued studies with de Campo and Alberdi. His first public appearance as a conductor was 2 March 1934 with the orchestra of the Professional Association of Conservatory Students.

At the end of 1935, Argenta was named resident conductor at Madrid's Teatro Calderón for the 1936 opera season. After the start of the Spanish Civil War, Argenta volunteered with the Nationalist forces. As the only son of a widow, he was exempt from combat service. He served in a communications battalion and trained in radio-telegraphy. He was involved in the Segovian Falange. During the Civil War, he served behind the northern front almost until the fall of Gijon, the last Republican stronghold in the north. He managed to communicate with his family in Belgium and Juana in Madrid. Argenta and Juana were able to reunite in Nationalist territory, and they married in Segovia on 13 October 1937.

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