“La ultima curda” is one of the last great poems of the golden age of tango. It was written in 1956 by Catúlo Castillo to the music of Anibal Troilo. It tells the story of a deeply disillusioned man, talking to a bandoneon about the futility of life and the profound emotions he feels at the sound of a tango.
Curda is a lunfardo term which means “drunkenness” or “inebriation”; thus La ultima curda would translate as “the last inebriation”. It is the third of a series of tangos which presents the bandoneon as a living character and friend of the lonely man in the style of “Che bandoneon” by Homero Manzi. It also resonates with the work of Enrique Discepolo as it takes tango poetry down to it’s deepest level of existentialism.
(man talking to a bandoneon)
I know.. don’t say it. You are right!
Life is an absurd wound
and everything is so ephemeral
that it’s as good as getting drunk
to even bother telling my story
In his memoirs, Roberto Rivero remembers a beautiful summer evening when they were rehearsing “La ultima curda”. They were all gathered in Troilo’s apartment on Parana street near Avenida Corrientes, across the street from the cabaret Chanteclerc. They were making the last arrangements when they noticed a crowd was amassed in the street, interrupting late night traffic. Then they went out on the balcony and performed “La ultima curda” for the first time in public. It was such a magical night, Rivero says it felt a bit strange to sing “life is an absurd wound” in his book “Una luz de almacen”.
“La ultima curda” was recorded for the first time in 1956 by Anibal Troilo with the voice of Edmundo Rivero. It became a classic of his repertoire and he recorded another version with Goyeneche in 1963, followed by an in instrumental version in 1969. Both Roberto Goyeneche and Edmundo Rivero adopted it as well and continued performing and recording “La ultima curda” many times over.
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[1] Del Priore, Oscar, and Irene Amachástegui. Cien tangos fundamentales. Buenos Aires: Aguilar, 1998. Print.
[2] Adet, Manuel. La ultima curda. El Litoral. Online. http://www.ellitoral.com/index.php/diarios/2013/03/09/escenariosysociedad/SOCI-03.html
[2] Riveo, Edmundo. Una luz de almacen. Buenos Aire: Emecé editores, 1982. Print.
