Darío Moreno

Darío Moreno
Born	April 3, 1921(1921-04-03) Aydın, Turkey
Died	December 1, 1968(1968-12-01) (aged 47) Istanbul, Turkey
Occupation	Singer, Composer, Lyricist, Guitarist, Film Actor

Darío Moreno (3 April 1921 – 1 December 1968) was a Turkish polyglot singer of Jewish origin, as well as an accomplished composer, lyricist and guitarist, who was born in Aydın, Turkey, in 1921, and who attained fame and made a remarkable career centered in France which also included films, during the fifties and the sixties.

Biography

His real name was David Arugete and he was born in the poorer Jewish quarter of İzmir to a large family. He was orphaned in early childhood when his father, who worked in a train station in the city, was shot dead under tragic circumstances. He was placed in the Sephardic orphanage of İzmir (Nido De Guerfanos^[1]) by his mother and remained there until he was four.

After a primary education in the Jewish educational establishments of İzmir, he did many odd jobs during his early youth. But he has also put great effort into improving his education at the same time while working to make a living, and having started as an errand boy in the cabinet of one of the city's prominent lawyers, he was in time raised to becoming a clerk in his office. In the evenings, he would study French in İzmir's Central Library. With a guitar that had fallen into his hands by chance, he also learned, mainly on his own with occasional tutoring asked here and there, to master playing that instrument.

He started singing in the Bar Mitzva feasts as a secondary occupation. In his early twenties, he had already become a well-known singer in İzmir, and particularly among the Jewish community. During his military service in the Turkish Army, he was employed as a singer in officers' quarters in various garrisons and became more focused on music. His first truly professional musical performance started in his hometown right after his discharge, through connections established while under the arms. Since he had started making money thanks to music, he moved to the more well-off Jewish quarter of Karataş to a house in a street leading to the historical building of Asansör, one of the city's landmarks (and which means, literally, the "Elevator", people taking an actual elevator to go to the higher part of the quarter, this part being separated by the coastal strait with a steep slope). This street is named Dario Moreno Sokağı (Dario Moreno Street) today in his memory.

A hyperactive personality, Darío Moreno died of a heart attack in a taxi while going to the airport in Istanbul on 1 December 1968. He was only 47. He was buried in Holon, Israel, by his mother Madam Roza.^[2]

Lyrics

• My dear İzmir (Canım İzmir, written in Turkish)

İzmir! My sweet and dear city!
If I die far away from you one day,
May they bring me to you,
But, while taking me to my grave,
May they not say of me, "He died",
May they say, "He is sleeping".

• The girls of İstanbul (İstanbul kızları, written in Turkish)

If you only knew how sweet they are, the girls of İstanbul,
How they can attract you to their side, from far away,
That I could not forget them, all lovely as they are,
And how I was bewitched at first sight by one, and how I loved her,
Wishing I could live forever and destiny could keep us together.

Ya Mustafa

Ya Mustafa is one of the most remembered of Moreno's songs. It was very famous in the 50s and early 60s. The original version of this catchy song (having a Greek style music) and the identity of its composer are disputed. It appeared in one of the films of the Egyptian actor Ismail Yassin in the 50s and in another Egyptian film of Sabah from the same era. Dario Moreno performed it in the late 50s. In Europe, the song became popular with the help of Bob Azzam (a Lebanese singer who was born in Egypt in 1925 and died in Monte Carlo 2004, who like Moreno was the son of Jewish parents), who released it in 1960 in France with lyrics consisting of at least 3 languages: "Chérie je t'aime, chéri je t'adore – como la salsa del pomodoro" (Darling, I love you, darling, I adore you – like tomato sauce). Bruno Gigliotti, (Orlando) the brother of famous singer Dalida, also covered the song. This song, with its Greek style music and polyglotic lyrics, can be considered as a historical documentation of the cosmopolitan era in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. During that era, a large cosmopolitan polyglotic community, mainly Greeks, Jews and Italians, lived in the Egyptian city. A sizable portion lived in the Attareen district, where the events of the song take place.

Films

• La femme et le pantin, by Julien Duvivier with Brigitte Bardot
• Le salaire de la peur, 1952, by Henri-Georges Clouzot with Yves Montand, Charles Vanel and Peter van Eyck
• La Môme vert-de-gris, 1953, by Bernard Borderie with Eddie Constantine with Howard Vernon, Dominique Wilms and Maurice Ronet
• Quai des blondes, by Paul Cadeac with Michel Auclair
• Tous peuvent me tuer, 1957, by Henri Decoin with Anouk Aimée
• Oh! que mambo, 1959, by John Berry with Magali Noël
• Voulez-vous danser avec moi ?, 1959, by Michel Boisrond with Henri Vidal, Brigitte Bardot and Noël Roquevert
• Candide ou l'Optimisme au XXe siècle, 1960, by Norbert Carbonnaux with Jean-Pierre Cassel and Dahlia Lavi
• Le tout pour le tout, 1960, by Patrice Dally with Karen Blanguernon with Dirk Sanders
• Marie des Isles, 1960, by Georges Combret mat der Belinda Lee
• Tintin et le mystère de la toison d'or, 1961, by Jean-Jacques Vierne with Charles Vanel with Georges Wilson
• Le bon Roi Dagobert, 1963, by Pierre Chevalier with Fernandel and Gino Cervi
• Hotel Paradiso, 1966
• Le Saint prend l'affût (1966)

Albums

• Granada- Adios Amigos
• Bossa Nova
• Calypso
• Le coco
• Canım İzmir
• Si Tu Vas A Rio / Viens
• Long Bos
• Moreno Poy poy
• Mulata Ye Ye Ye
• Hatıralar Hayal Oldu / Olam Boyun Kurbanı
• Tropical Dario
• Oh Que Dario

Awards

• 1958 Grand Prix Du Disque in France

References

1. ^ "Nido de Guerfanos para kriaturas sin padre o madre"
2. ^ Akşam Gazetesi: Batı müziğini ülkemize getiren Moreno anıldı

External links

• Dario Moreno at the Internet Movie Database
• Dario Moreno (Turkish)

Persondata
Name	Moreno, Dario
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 April 1921
Place of birth	İzmir, Turkey
Date of death	1 December 1968
Place of death	Istanbul, Turkey