If the history of eighteenth-century cello music and performance in Spain is still waiting to be written, Josetxu Obregón and La Ritirata are bringing us up close to the instrument’s role during that time with their Glossa CD, The Cello in Spain. The selection made by this exciting cellist provides a sample of pieces which undoubtedly would have been heard in Spain during the infancy of the instrument there and in the period leading into the Age of the Enlightenment.

La Ritirata’s choices of instruments and performing styles admirably match the demands of music ranging from the Baroque to the Classical and this disc paves the way for a broader exploration of the presence of the cello in the group’s home country.