To write this portrayal I turned to the researchers who knew this great musician of Rosario and so I collected some interesting evidences about the figure of the maestro.
Oscar Zucchi, the greatest researcher on bandoneon history and its players, interviewed him in 1987 and, since then, he was in touch with him, went to several of his performances as soloist and, as well when he appeared with his trio:
«Antonio Ríos, together with Julio Ahumada, were the best bandoneonists born in Rosario. An alumnus of Abel Bedrune (a musician regarded as the Canaro of Rosario because of his deserved popularity), but he was more important as teacher than as an instrumentalist and composer.
«Eduardo Rovira said that for him Ríos was the sound of the bandoneon in its state of purity and that he, Alfredo Gobbi and Orlando Goñi were the last three great intuitive musicians of tango. But in the case of Ríos it was not only intuition. He studied, he was a great player of classical music and teached. One of his students was Miguel Varvello.
«Ríos regarded the bandoneon as a complete instrument and which is not only confined to tango. Its possibilities are greater, much richer.
«He had a precise fingering, obtaining from his instrument a full sound without distortion. His playing with a stony, serious face brought me an imposing image. A static one. Only the movement of his fingers. All his expressiveness came his sound, with no need of bodily extroversions like kicking or shaking his hair. He was completely solemn and majestic. He and his instrument were a unity. Furthermore, his life was very hazardous, quite sad. He was never able of setting apart his stubborn bohemian habits and lead a fairly normal life».
