Nelly Omar
Singer and composer
(10 September 1911 - 20 December 2013)
Nelly was born ‘Nilda Elvira Vattuone Pesoa’ in Gaumini (Buenos Aires) Argentina in 1911. She began working in a textile factory at age 12. Dreaming of becoming a pilot, she went to flight school where she met Maria Eva Duarte (later Eva Perón, ‘Evita’), who also aspired to a pilot. At the same time (aged 13), Nelly began singing tango professionally. She sang with a range of tango ensembles, tango poets (Enrique Cadícamo and Homero Manzi) and tango singers of the time (Libertad Lamarque & Agustín Magaldi). She recorded her first album with Canaro in 1946. She was a Perón supporter and when he was ousted in 1955, she was blacklisted from the arts industry for 17 years. In 1972 she staged a comeback accompanied by guitarist José Canet Together they performed a series of concerts, began releasing records and appearing on stage. She wrote two books.
Featured tanda:
At the Evita Milonga, we played a tanda of Valses with Nelly singing ‘Rosa de otoño’, ‘Desde el Alma’ and ‘Corazón De Oro’. The first two were recorded with Francisco Canaro and his orchestra. ‘Corazón De Oro’ was recorded in 1979 with José Canet y Sus Guitarras.
