The Argentinian composer and conductor Osvaldo Nicolás Ferrara, or Waldo de los Ríos, was born in September 7th, 1934 in Buenos Aires.
He had great success creating modern arrangements of classical themes. Arranged an excerpt of the 4th movement of the Ninth Symphony "Choral" of Beethoven, turning it into "Himno a la Alegría" (Ode to Joy) sung by Miguel Ríos, a Spanish rock artist.
After recording some instrumental easy listening albums in middle 60's under his artistic name, he start to arrange classical music in early 70's, adding original rhythm arrangements which include Argentine folk percussion instruments in the orchestrations. His recording of the first movement of the Mozart Symphony 40 is an instant world wide hit. There were other recordings with Overtures, Operas, Arias, Concertos , Chorals, and other great selections of classical music.
Waldo de los Ríos also composed music for movies such as: "Pampa Salvaje", "La Residencia", "A Town Called Hell", "Boquitas Pintadas", "Who Can Kill a Child?" and many others. Recently there were two 2-on-1 De los Rios soundtracks released in CD format.
In March 28th, 1977 he commits suicide in Madrid, victim of a deep depression.
Visit "Waldo de los Ríos - Ode to Waldo".
Have fun!
Fernando
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Listening now: "Mozart Symphony 40" from "Mozartmania"
