Francisco Canaro

Francisco Canaro
Portrait of Canaro, c. 1940.
Background information
Birth name	Francisco Canarozzo
Born	(1888-11-26)November 26, 1888 San José de Mayo, Uruguay
Died	December 14, 1964(1964-12-14) (aged 76) Argentina
Genres	Tango
Occupation(s)	Musician, orchestra leader
Instruments	Violin

Francisco Canaro (November 26, 1888 – December 14, 1964) was an Uruguayan violinist and tango orchestra leader.

His parents, Italians emigrated to Uruguay, and later – when Francisco Canaro was less than 10 years old, they emigrated to Buenos Aires (Argentina) in the late nineteenth century. Canaro was born in San José de Mayo, Uruguay, in 1888. As a young man and found work in a factory, where an empty oil can would, in his skilled hands, become his first violin. Performing in seedy bars initially, he ultimately forged a career that spanned many decades, and his orchestra was one of the most recorded. His introduction to the tango came by orquesta típica leader Vicente Greco in 1908, and in 1912, he composed Pinta brava (Fierce Look). Canaro composed the music for the 1915 Argentine classic, Nobleza gaucha, and later was romantically attached to Argentine actress and tango vocalist Ada Falcón, but the relationship, which began in the early 1920s, grew apart a decade later.

In 1920 Canaro discovered Azucena Maizani, who rapidly developed into a major tango star.

Canaro was active in the cause of intellectual property rights from 1918 onwards, and was instrumental in the establishment of the Argentine Society of Composers and Songwriters (SADAIC), in 1935, purchasing the downtown Buenos Aires lot where its headquarters were built. He performed in Paris with his orchestra in 1925, and a success among local audiences, he remained in Europe for a decade. Becoming a naturalized Argentine citizen in 1940, much of his recorded music is in the classic salon style of that decade, but he is also considered a member of the old guard, and some of his later recordings contributed to the transition to concert tango.