Lamarque, Simone, and Carreras: Female Tango Icons

In this episode of our Tango Orchestras podcast, we turn our attention to the remarkable women who gave tango some of its most unforgettable voices between 1928 and 1932. We open with Ada Falcón, whose luminous partnership with Francisco Canaro produced recordings of rare intimacy and emotional weight. From there we move to Libertad Lamarque — crowned the "Queen of Tango" — whose dramatic delivery carried the genre beyond the milonga and onto the silver screen. Then comes Mercedes Simone, "La Dama del Tango," whose refined phrasing and quiet depth set a benchmark that still shapes how tango is sung today. And we close with a mystery. Joaquina Carreras was one of the earliest estribillistas — the women who sang only the refrain, so dancers could keep moving. Nearly erased from the official record, her story opens a window onto how tango history decides who to remember and who to let fade.

Listen to the full episode on Patreon: https://patreon.com/tandaoftheweek