He was a close friend of Julio Sosa and since he was a child he was known as "Gardelito" and, although it was not an easy task, he never abandoned his profession and lived from singing.
He was born in San Juan on September 22, 1924 and took his first steps in the profession at the age of 15 in Miguel Caló's orchestra. In 1942 he joined Carlos Di Sarli's orchestra, with whom he recorded hits such as "Al compás del corazón" and "Nada".
Later he was Pedro Laurenz's soloist until 1945 when he became the voice of Francini-Pontier to record songs such as "Que me van a hablar de amor" and the waltz "El hijo triste", a duet with Julio Sosa. Throughout his life he recorded about 500 pieces.
In spite of having felt undervalued - "I have not had the luck of other people, all the work I have done in my life I have done for myself", he told Télam in an interview-, he spent his last years touring the stages, enjoying an unprecedented recognition that he crowned when he celebrated his 90th birthday with a concert at the Usina del Arte.
"I feel very moved by all these tributes for my 90 years and for the 74 years of performances, so I can only be grateful to God and to life for everything it has given me", said the singer, recognized for his great versions of "Alma de bohemio", "Percal" and "Nido gaucho".
His warm way of interpreting led him to show tango art all over the world, he was declared "Distinguished Citizen of Buenos Aires" and "Outstanding Personality of Culture", and participated in the project "Café de los maestros", which included musicians such as Leopoldo Federico, Rodolfo Mederos, Ernesto Baffa and Nicolás Ledesma.
"One of my greatest satisfactions was to have participated in that film and in the album 'Café de los maestros' with so many friends in life and on stage," he stressed in an interview with the agency.
With this history as a guarantee, Podestá defined tango as "the feeling of the Argentine people. We have a lot of feeling, we are ready for everyone and in other countries they are not ready for us. We Argentines are more sentimental".
In relation to the teachers who marked his life, he said: "I cannot fail to mention Miguel Caló, who gave me my first opportunity when I was a brat, and later Di Sarli, Mafia and all those who conducted historical orchestras for Argentine tango".
After 15 years without recording, Podestá had returned to the recording arena when he was 87 years old with "Alta gama", a careful work that he recorded with the guitar trio Las Bordonas, where he performed a handful of songs marked by his sentimental imprint.
"It is a wonderful opportunity that these young musicians of Las Bordonas are giving me, I am - he confessed - very grateful to them, no one had offered me to record in this time".
His manager María Alejandra Podestá said that "in spite of his age, he was one of the most active singers of the circuit. His life was the bowling alley, it was like his second home. Until his hospitalization in the nursing home he could be seen every day at the bars of Sadaic. He liked bohemia".
"Tango was born with me, I sing since my mother gave birth to me, I sing with what I have", he once said in a sublime self-definition.
SOURCE: Télam