baroque cello / cello piccolo
“…el violoncello emitió un sonido que aterciopeló la atmósfera al fundirse con el clave” – El País
“Josetxu Obregón col suo brunito violoncello in possesso di una vibrante cavata, di un fraseggio curato, di una discreta tecnica nei passaggi veloci…” – Rivista Musica
“uno de los mejores violonchelistas en el campo de la interpretación histórica que existen en el panorama mundial de la actualidad” – Codalario
Born in Bilbao, he studied cello, chamber music and conducting at Bachelor and Masters level in Spain and Holland, where he studied baroque cello at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and where he was in touch with Anner Bylsma.
Josetxu performs on a regular basis at the most prestigious concert halls in 18 different European countries, the United States, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Japan and China; at venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Tokyo Opera City, Centro Nacional de las Artes de México, the Royal Festival Hall London. He has played with some of Europe’s most important ensembles, such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and in the context of Early Music with Le Concert des Nations (Jordi Savall), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and as first cellist of L’Arpeggiata (Christina Pluhar), EUBO (European Union Baroque Orchestra) and Arte dei Suonatori, among others.
He has recorded for Virgin, Verso, Arsis, Columna Música and The Gift of Music record labels and also for BBC3, NPS Radio 3 Holland, Mezzo, the Spanish National Radio and TV and the Macedonian TV, among others.
He regularly plays an original Sebastian Klotz cello from 1740, a Tyrolean cello from the early 19th century and a 5-string piccolo violoncello.
What was the first composition ever written for solo violoncello? What was composed before Bach created his extraordinary suites for solo cello? These questions drove the cellist Josetxu Obregón to devote himself to the beginnings of solo literature for his instrument. These beginnings can be found in the city of Bologna, which, with its brilliant Capella Musicale and the Accademia Filarmonica, made a decisive contribution to the development of the violin and the cello. Obregon presents two ricercari by Domenico Gabrielli from 1688 as the first specific works for unaccompanied solo cello. Further stations on the way from Bologna to Cöthen to the climax of this genre with Bach’s six suites are compositions by Vitali, Galli, de Ruvo, Dall’ Abaco, Supriano and Colombi. Bach’s works are also presented by Obregon, but in an unusual way: He takes a dance movement from each of Bach’s suites and then places them – as a comparison of styles – between the works from his Italian anthology.
