Desde Carlos Gardel: Cancionero Porteño

It takes a brave soul, as well as considerable vocal talent, to tackle the songs of Carlos Gardel. The recordings left for us by Buenos Aires’ most iconic singer are, for all the crackling of their aged vinyl, beloved of tango fans the world over. If they evoke the moment of tango's zenith, they are also timeless, innocent and stirringly beautiful. Diego Flores’ versions of ‘Malevaje’, ‘Como Abrazado a un Rencor’ and ‘El Motivo’ avoid direct comparisons with the master because of their more strident and melodramatic delivery, not to mention the intensity of performing solo with just a bandoneón and/or guitar. There's also the modernity of the technology – this is clean, crisp music that's more for headphones than for the tango stage. I can’t fault Flores’ competence, and William Sabatier's accordion playing is authoritative and moody – it's gratifying that you can hear his fingertips depressing the buttons.

Do these covers add anything to the Gardelian legacy? Yes, in that they are proper interpretations rather than mere mimicry. But something has been lost along the way: partly a sense of context, and partly perhaps the humility of true art. Gardel was inventing tango canción in the 20s; Flores is merely offering a homage. The other covers here, of songs first made famous by the likes of Jorge Ortiz, Francisco Fiorentino, Roberto Goyeneche and Eladia Blázquez, are more suitable cases for the treatment, though again they rarely, if ever, improve on the originals.