e was born in Tigre, province of Buenos Aires, son of Tobías Gilardoni and Florinda Novelli.

He studied harmony and composition with Gilardo Gilardi and, at age 17, he joined the orchestras Ideal (típica-tango orch.) and Laedi (“característica”-all rhythm orch.), and appeared as pianist and accordionist on tours throughout the interior of the country and in Brazil.

He accompanied Lolita Torres in a movie and he was who launched several female singers of the period: Ramona Galarza, Violeta Rivas, among other figures.

As educator he worked as music teacher at the Colegio Marín in San Isidro. He ran a singing academy for many years. Some of the attendants of it were: Valeria Lynch, Rubén Juárez, Daniel Riolobos, Guillermo Fernández, María Graña, Juan Darthés.

In his oeuvre as author and composer, the following tangos stand out: “Yo no merezco éste castigo”, “El último escalón" “Una piba como vos”, the lyrics for “Taquito militar”, “Amor de marinero”, among the numbers most widely known but he published over seven hundred pieces. He was also author and composer of the Carlos Balá’s repertoire.

In 1999 he was awarded the Gran Premio SADAIC a la Música Ciudadana (SADAIC Grand Prize to City Music) for his career. He as well received other awards and homages like those given by La Casa del Tango in 2000.

The journalist Enrique Sdrech, in the Clarín newspaper (4/28/1997), made him an interesting interview under the title “Una vida a toda orquesta” which I transcribe below.

«He had 841 pieces filed in the SADAIC record, which makes him the most prolific composer and lyricist. “Taquito militar”, “Una piba como vos”, “Baldosa floja”, “Tango”, “Un amor imposible”, “El último escalón” and “Amor de marinero” are some of his greatest hits. He also composed operatic music and even he wrote some ballads like the one he named “Por esa palabra libertad” which was played in the United Nations for the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution and was sung by the tenor José Najt.

“I may say that I met Carlitos Gardel, that I frequented his friendship, that I know unknown stories about him, but it would be quite disloyal and a big lie. I really came to know El Zorzal when I was eight years old and I was playing piano at a festival in Tigre. Gardel came closer to me, touched my head and praised me for the way I pounded the piano keys”. That is what the charismatic don Dante tells us, a true keyboard virtuoso that keeps on teaching piano, organ and accordion at several academies. “For 70 years I’ve been spending my life among black, white ones (keys) and some other blondie”, he jokes.

«Owner of a very special charm, at every time of the dialogue he interspersed some of his wisecracks.

“I write lyrics and, what is worse, I sing them”, says he while he shows a worthwhile ductility by playing pieces of his own on piano which he, at the same time, also sings for the joy of his students that are waiting for their lesson.

“When I was a kid I studied with the violinist Saraco, from the Teatro Colón, thereafter with maestro Gilardo Gilardi I studied harmony and composition. In the 30s I dared to run my first singing academy and helped in training figures like Valeria Lynch, Jorge Falcón and María Graña, among others”.

«-Why don’t you tell us that story of yours at the Congress which upset a high official?

“It wasn’t anything important (he laughs), finally the water did not reach the river. It happened that they had hired a soprano Singer from the Colón, Mrs. Leonor Gitlin. I think she was Rumanian. A concert was scheduled in a space of the dome of the Congress. I was the pianist. An official came and at every time he reminded us that he was the organizer of the concert. Then I asked him if they had organized a concert up there to fix the confusion down here, alluding to the Chamber of Deputies. He didn’t like it at all”.

«It would be impossible to mention the Gilardoni’s appearances either in our country or abroad. His anecdotes, his travels, his friendship with great personalities in the most different and antagonistic disciplines. His relationship, in Mexico, with the unforgettable Agustín Lara, his extraordinary versatility in music because many times he accompanied Oscar Alemán, Barry Moral, Santa Rita Ritmo en el Alma, Santander. In October 1994, by municipal ordinance of the city of San Juan, the patronage of the monument and Paseo Carlos Gardel was bestowed to Enrique Cadícamo and him. “Enrique Cadícamo is more than a friend, he is my brother, he is a relic that has to be revered”.

“I must confess that on occasions I was unfaithful to tango, and I was forced to play other genres. Once I went on tour with the Marimba Alma Salvadoreña and at the place where I appeared I finished with the chords of “Jalisco no te rajes” and I had to start with Chopin or Bach’s pieces. I was born that way and that’s the way I want to die. I can say that I had the privilege of writing music for many ones that were successful in music”.

«-Didn’t that bohemia turn your life into something a bit messy?

“Yes. But it doesn’t bother me at all. Recently my children gave me a beautiful briefcase to replace the remains of one that had accompanied me all my lifetime. I went out from home in a hurry, it was a rainy day, somebody handed me an umbrella and the new briefcase. When I reached my destination and got off the taxicab, the driver noticed that I was leaving the briefcase. “It’s not mine”, I answered as I was accustomed to the old portfolio. The man opened it and told me: “It’s full of staves with music notes”. “—You should have started with that”, I told him, “It’s mine”. And as a token of my appreciation I gave him a tango I had just written».