Milva - Questo Tango (La Cumparsita)

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Described by her own PR as "one of the greatest female performers on the international scene ever", my own music collection containing more than 50 albums by the Italian diva Milva should provide more than a clue as to my view of that statement! Known as La Rossa on account of her flame-coloured tresses, I consider she well and truly set the bar for any aspiring Italian singer. Few of her contemporaries can boast an eclectic a catalogue as Milva, ranging as it does from pure pop to Brecht, and embracing collaborations with outstanding global music-makers like Ennio Morricone, Francis Lai, Mikis Theodorakis, Enzo Jannacci and Vangelis. Fewer still can claim to have performed at venues such as La Scala in Milan, the Paris Opera, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, London's Royal Albert Hall, the Edinburgh Festival and other prestigious locations.
"Questo Tango", more familiarly known as "La Cumparsita" formed the opening selection to her outstanding 1968 album, 'Tango', the rhythmic theme on which all 12 songs were based. The song was originally composed by Uruguayan musician Gerardo Matos Rodríguez, with Spanish lyrics by Pascual Contursi and Enrique Pedro Maroni. The Italian lyrics on this recording are credited to Rondinella. Although I use the term 'recording', Milva's interpretation of "La Cumparsita" should, more accurately, be described as a 'performance', and is one of several hundred titles which, for up to six decades, have ensured she remain in my list of all-time greatest female song stylists. That is never going to change!