Far from the stage due to his advanced age, that tango legend called Mariano Mores passed away at the age of 98 five years ago -on April 13, 2016- without ceasing to be the subject of controversy and mixed feelings among tango lovers, which could range from passionate admiration to the skeptical look they usually suffer for trying something new.
Mores was divided into three activities: he was a pianist and orchestra conductor, a composer and a decent film actor; in the first, he introduced sound forms that annoyed purists and in the second he was harmed by the enormous lyricists who were his lot.
Although the name of the composer is always mentioned before that of the lyricist when stating a title, he had the sambenito of having worked for Enrique Santos Discépolo ("Uno", "Cafetín de Buenos Aires"), Homero Manzi ("Una lágrima tuya"), José María Contursi ("Grisel", "En esta tarde gris"), Cátulo Castillo ("La calesita", "El patio de la Morocha"), enormous poets who left their words in the popular ear.
He did have pieces that were recognized as his own, such as "Adiós pampa mía", composed with his artistic father Francisco Canaro, "Cuartito azul", with Mario Batistella in the lyrics, "Por qué la quise tanto", with Rodolfo Taboada, the milongas "Taquito militar" and "El firulete" and the intense "Tanguera", synthesis of his particular aesthetics.
In the movies he had a leading role in "Corrientes... calle de ensueños!", filmed in 1949 about a provincial pianist who arrives to the "street that never sleeps" and falls in love, and that same year he filmed "La doctora quiere tangos", with Mirtha Legrand.
He appeared in other movies, but already playing himself, such as "Buenas noches, Buenos Aires" (1964) or "Sucedió en el fantástico Circo Tihany" (1981). He also appeared on TV with Legrand in "M ama a M", on the old Channel 7, and with his own in "La familia Mores" (1967).
The surname Mores, adopted by the former Mariano Alberto Martínez, is the result of his artistic association with the Hermanitas Mores duo, formed by Margot and Myrna Mores, in 1936, whom he supported as pianist in their radio performances; he ended up marrying the latter.