La Ritirata
Founded by Josetxu Obregón when he was based in The Netherlands, the ensemble La Ritirata takes its name from the final movement of the famous quintet composed by Luigi Boccherini in Spain, entitled “La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid”.
Dedicated to combining accurate historical awareness (through a knowledge of the instruments and aesthetics of a composer’s time) with the highest levels of artistic quality, La Ritirata is at home in Baroque musical traditions from all across Europe; Bach and Handel figure in the ensemble’s programmes as much as Italian and Spanish composers from the courtly traditions of Early Baroque who feature on the Glossa album Il Spiritillo Brando. And naturally, given the Boccherinian reference in its name, La Ritirata holds a special place in its heart for the Classical era composer from Lucca who settled in Spain: programmes of cello sonatas, string trios and other chamber works feature in the group’s repertory.
The talent of La Ritirata is taking the group to concert venues and festivals all over the world; recent examples include the National Theatre of Beijing, the CNART Early Music Festival (México City), the closing ceremony of the Spanish EU presidency (Tokyo), the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele (Germany), the Museo de Bellas Artes in Santiago (Chile), the Centro Studi Boccherini (Lucca), the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, as well as all across Spain including at Musika-Música for La Folle Journée in the Palacio Euskalduna (Bilbao), the Real Alcázar (Sevilla) and the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid (in a series organized by the Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical). La Ritirata was also the only Spanish group to be selected for the first ‘Grande Audition’ of the European Early Music Network, REMA. La Ritirata has several recordings on the Verso, Arsis, Columna Música and Cantus labels, and since 2013 they are artists of the Glossa label. Its recordings have gained great critical success in the main European magazines, receiving the highest distinction by Scherzo, Ritmo and Melómano Spanish magazines, as well as «Supersonic Pizzicato» (Luxembourg), «4 étoiles» Classica (France), and great reviews in Toccata and Fono Forum (Germany), Gramophone and BBC (United Kingdom). In March 2018, La Ritirata was awarded the 2017 Culture Award of the Madrid Region which rewards the work carried out in this decade that has led to offer more than 230 concerts in 22 countries on 4 continents. The Ritirata has also received the 2013 “ojo Crítico” from RNE (Spanish Public Radio), awarded for the first time in its history to an Early Music ensemble, the Codalario Award for “Best Musical Product 2014” and has been awarded four times in the GEMA Awards (Association of Spanish Groups of Early Music).
In 2018 La Ritirata celebrated its 10th anniversary releasing its album “Neapolitan Concertos for various instruments” (Glossa) and with performances at Thüringer Bachwochen in Germany, three concerts in Finland, Quincena Musical de San Sebastián, Semana de Música Antigua of Álava, two performances at the XXVIII IFestival Internacional Madrid Arte Sacro, the Juan March Foundation, London Music Nights (Madrid), Festival de Música Clásica in Casalarreina and the opening concert of “Universo Barroco” in the chamber hall of the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid with Nuria Rial, recorded and broadcasted by Spanish Public TV and Radio. Highlight of this year of celebrations was the performance of “Antonio Caldara: The Cervantes Operas” in Muziekcentrum “De Bijloke” in Ghent.
In 2019 it is worth mentioning the release of its 11th CD “Alessandro Scarlatti: Quella Pace Gradita” with soloists Alicia Amo, Giuseppina Bridelli and Filippo Mineccia, as well as the tour in Central America with concerts in Panama, Ecuador and Colombia and performances at the Early Music Festival in Aranjuez and at the Teatro Fernán Gómez in Madrid within the framework of the Early Music Festival Madrid 2019, Granada International Music and Dance Festival at the Alhambra (concert recorded and broadcasted by Mezzo, Culturebox, France TV and Canal Sur), Clásicos en Verano Festival in Madrid, International Keyboard Festival and Masterclass in Tui, Semana de Música Antigua in Logroño and Korkyra Baroque Festival of Croatia.
