José Ángel Trelles

Real name: Amato, José Ángel
Singer
(28 August 1943 - 10 December 2022)
Place of birth:
Buenos Aires Argentina
By
Ricardo García Blaya

is voice is identified with the Ástor Piazzolla’s music and the lyrics by Horacio Ferrer. Possessing a baritone range, he has good intonation, good lungs and he is a true example of a generation of vocalists that interpreted on one side and sang on the other. With a style that is not laden with tricks and licks, he is closer to ballad than tango singing. However, his songbook is made up of avant-garde compositions, he fits these characteristics and turns out appealing.

His beginnings are linked to television. His professional debut was in 1969, at the TV program Siete y Medio, produced and conducted by Héctor Ricardo García. Soon thereafter he was summoned by Dino Ramos to join the cast of singers for his program Canciorema, a show in which he was awarded as best performer. That same year he cut his first record for the RCA-Victor company.

The following year he sang on the Tupí radio station of São Paulo (Brazil) and at several live shows alongside Elis Regina, Ney Matogrosso and Altemar Dutra. On his comeback to Buenos Aires he appeared at the program Sábados Circulares emceed by Nicolás Mancera.

Piazzolla was a permanent presence in his career. He was sideman of the composer in a large number of shows, tours and recordings. In 1975 they teamed up for the first time, their debut was in Rio de Janeiro and they made a tour of several cities of Brazil. With this same group he appeared for a season in Buenos Aires to lastly appear at the Carnegie Hall of New York.

Around 1981 he was again summoned by Astor to perform Volver a Buenos Aires, title song of the movie Volver. The following year they appeared in concerts in Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, among other countries.

In 1987 and 1989 he toured the American continent appearing at different theaters and TV channels in Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay and also in our country. He also appeared in concerts held in the open air in the city of Buenos Aires.

In the nineties he went on with his busy schedule, he returned to television joining the cast of the program Querido Sandro which was awarded the Martín Fierro as the best musical program in television. Sandro himself invited him to share a series of appearances at the Teatro Astros of Buenos Aires.

In São Paulo he appeared in a series of concerts staged as homage to maestro Astor Piazzolla, along with Horacio Ferrer, organized by the Fundación Memorial de América Latina.

In 1995 he sang with Pablo Ziegler and his Quinteto para el Nuevo Tango at different theaters of Buenos Aires. He was awarded the ACE 1995 granted by the Asociación de Cronistas del Espectáculo, as the best performer of contemporary tango music for his recording Piazzolla-Ferrer Inéditos.

The following year he staged the show Tango a Tango along with Rubén Juárez at the Café Homero. He also was summoned by the América multimedia with production by HBO-Olé to appear at the show Astortango at the Teatro Ópera of Buenos Aires which was aired on TV for Latin America.

He again performed with the Quinteto Nuevo Tango, this time touring São Paulo and Brasilia. In November ’96 he appeared along with Raúl Lavié and Patricia Barone at the music show ¿Qué has hecho de mí?, written by Betty Gambartes and staged at the Bandoneón Teatro Concert.

In the late 90s he appeared at the Club del Vino in the show Los duendes del tango (1997), alongside Horacio Ferrer and Héctor Stamponi. Furthermore he was starred alongside María Graña, and Ferrer as guest artist, at the show Tango a Buenos Aires (1998-1999).

In 2000 he visited several countries. He was showcased in Japan with the tango opera María de Buenos Aires, conducted by Gidon Kremer. In April he appeared at the Carnegie Hall of New York in the show Tango Magic. There he as well recorded a special program for Sony Television. In July he was summoned by the Italian singer Milva to perform in María de Buenos Aires with an orchestra led by Daniel Binelli at the Massimo theater of Palermo, Sicily.

Between 2002 and 2004, also with Milva, they reprised the Operita in Japan, Holland, Germany and Italy. On other occasions and along with other artists they staged the play in: Greece, Belgium, Hungary. On his comeback, the play is premiered again in Buenos Aires after 35 years at the Centro Cultural Borges, with the quintet of the Fundación Piazzolla, appearing Patricia Barone as María and Juan Vitali as the Elf.

In August and September 2002 he was invited by the Sexteto Mayor to appear in the main cities of the country.

In 2004 he appeared with the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón conducted by José Carli at the Auditorio de Belgrano for the show Homenaje a una idea. Furthermore, he sang with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela, which was conducted by Carli, in Caracas at the Teresa Carreño theater.

Throughout his career he was spotlighted in several musicals: Canta, canta, canta, El diluvio que viene, El patio de La Morocha, Lo que me costó el amor de Laura, Ya vendrán tiempos mejores, El Principito. He also shared the stage with musicians and singers of different genres like: Estela Raval, Víctor Heredia, Alberto Cortez.

Among his recordings the following stand out: Balada para un loco (1975), Y ahora yo (1990), Aguante barrio (2001), El ángel vive (2003), recorded with the Camerata Porteña and, along with the pianist Juan Carlos Cirigliano: Sólo para dos.