Born in San Telmo, Rodolfo made his professional debut at age 14, in 1920, with - guess who? Elvino Vardaro. A flashy pianist, he shone with the D'Arienzo Orquesta between 1935-38.
His Vals are equisite. His arrangements distinctive and creative. Biagi's music is more appreciated by the advanced dancer, I think, because it is challenging in it's subtleties.
D'Arienzo's most famous musical collaborator was Rodolfo Biagi. Each man's style became identified with the other's. Biagi was the creator of the piano profile that Juan made sure to always keep as the heart of his sound.
Rodolfo left in 1938 to go on his own, but those first 3 years remain many people's absolute favourite D'Arienzo period.
When I started the Cronologica restoration, I was listening for when Biagi would introduce his famous right-hand fills and answers - as they weren't there in the beginning. Biagi has a style that tells you who is playing a mile away. But he's not playing that way when the D'Arienzo orchestra does its first dates (El Flete, as an example, shows this absence). I'm waiting for it. I've been through almost their first year when it comes all of a sudden.
They'd been recording 2 sides (records) a month and had the total up to 20 when, on July 9, 1936, they enter the studio to record La Payanca.
In that 2/4 -time bounce that he rode to fame, D'Arienzo opened the number with accented hits carrying the melody on the beat. It just made so much sense for Rodolfo's piano to engage in a dialogue tango with the melody voice. One of a couple major elements of his signiture style is born. He played everything this way from now on.
One assumes Biagi will become more popular as people start hearing his recordings cleaned up. It makes an incredible difference.
There are 2 ToTANGO CD's of Biagi Restorations.
Rodolfo with his orquesta on Radio Belgrano
