Adriana Varela

Beatriz Adriana Lichinchi, known artistically as Adriana Varela or her nickname La Gata Varela (Avellaneda, Province of Buenos Aires; May 9 1952), is a renowned Argentine tango singer.

Biography

She was married to the tennis player Héctor Hugo Varela, from whom she took the surname and with whom she had two children, Rafael and Julia, both singers. In the early 90s she had a love relationship with the actor Juan Darthés. She is a well-known supporter of the Club Atlético Independiente de Avellaneda.

She worked for a long time as a speech therapist, specializing in neurological patients with Aphasia (speech disorder), studying psychoanalysis and linguistics.

In 1986, she began her artistic career thanks to Juan Alberto Badía who made her debut with Oscar Cardozo Ocampo, with songs by Alejandro del Prado called Tanguito, and then with a song by Pablo Milanés. She originated in rock, she had the revelation of her with tango when listening to Roberto Goyeneche in the film Sur , by Pino Solanas. Then Néstor Marconi invited her to sing tangos in a popular bar where she was & # 34; discovered & # 34; by the "Polish" Roberto Goyeneche.

In 1991 he released his first album: “Tangos”, on Litto Nebbia's Melopea label, followed by “Maquillaje” (1993) and “Corazones perversos” (1994). In 1998 she did a concert in Barcelona at the Greek Festival.

She is a great friend of the singers Cacho Castaña, Joan Manuel Serrat and Joaquín Sabina. She, along with Goyeneche and Cacho Castaña, came to sing in the Olmos Prison, in Argentina.

El Polaco made him perform songs like Afiches and Balada para un loco, among others.

Work

“Perverse Hearts” has been the first to feature special participations by Virgilio Expósito and Polaco Goyeneche, the discoverer and mentor of Adriana's career until his death.

In 1996, he released his fourth album “Tangos de lengue”, which includes unpublished compositions by one of the greatest authors in the history of tango: Enrique Cadícamo, followed by the recording of a live album at the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires, which he titled “Tango en vivo”, which includes a memorable version of the classic Cambalache, by Enrique Santos Discépolo. The same year he acted in the documentary Al corazón .

“When the river sounds” (1999), has distinguished her even more for her natural talent. In this album she united the music of Uruguayans and Argentines. It was presented in both countries, in a concert that featured ten albums on stage.

At the end of 2001, she released “Más tango”, which consecrated her as “Best Tango Artist of the Year”. Prominent Argentine musicians such as Leopoldo Federico, Osvaldo Berlingieri, Néstor Marconi, Rodolfo Mederos and Juanjo Domínguez participated in that album. It features classics of the genre such as Corrientes y Esmeralda, Así se baila el tango, Yuyo verde and Soap bubbles.

He acted in the documentary Abrazos, tango en Buenos Aires (2003).

Prizes

• He won the “ACE” award delivered by the Association of Showers two consecutive years: 1993 and 1994, by the “Maquillaje” and “Perverse Hearts”.

• Carlos Gardel Award in 2002 and 2007 for his albums “More Tango” and “Encaje”.
• He won two Konex Awards as one of the top 5 female tango singers in 1995 and 2015.

Festivals

In 1994, she was summoned by producer Quincy Jones to represent Argentina at the “Concert of the Americas”, in Miami, where she shared the stage with Liza Minnelli, Arturo Sandoval, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Daniela Mercury and Rita Marley.

In the same year 2000, she was invited by Joan Manuel Serrat to sing at the concert at the Club Atlético Atlanta stadium in Buenos Aires.

Among the festivals in which he has participated are:

• The Festival of Granada, Spain, 1994
• Nantes (France, 1995),
• The Summit of Presidents of America (Cartagena de Indias, Colombia 1997),
• Porto Alegre (Brazil, 1997), where he performed three nights in a row and was chosen to close the festival.
• Barcelona’s Greek Festival (where it was held in 1998),
• Fall in Madrid (2001)
• Festival “Tango in Paris” (France, 2001).

In 2005, she made her first European tour that has taken her to stages in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain.

On May 25, 2014, it was part of the celebrations for the anniversary of the May Revolution, within the framework of the show "Somos Cultura" of the Ministry of Culture of the Nation.

Discography

• 1991: Tangos - DISCUSES MELOPEA
• 1993: Makeup - DISCUSES MELOPEA
• 1994: Perverse hearts - DISCUSES MELOPEA
• 1995: Tangos de lengue - Varela canta Cadícamo - DISCUSES MELOPEA
• 1997: Live Tango (living)
• 1999: When the river sounds - NEW DIRECTION IN CULTURE S.A.
• 2000: More tango - NEW DIRECTION IN CULTURE S.A.
• 2005: Vivo (live) - NEW DIRECTION IN CULTURE S.A.
• 2006: Lace - NEW DIRECTION IN CULTURE S.A.
• 2009: Docke (live) - NEW DIRECTION IN CULTURE S.A.
• 2014: And piano (live) - S-MUSIC S.A.
• 2017: Avellaneda - D.B.N.

Compilations

• 1995: Great successes - DISCUSES MELOPEA
• 1995: Tangos collection - CLARIN
• 1996: Tango back - NEW MEASURES S.A.
• 1999: All my life - NEW MEASURES S.A.

Videos

• 2005: Vivo (live) - NEW DIRECTION IN CULTURE S.A.
• 2008: Music in the White Hall (Live) (DVD and VHS)