Pablo de Pedro, Lorenzo Meseguer, & Samuel Maíllo: The Viola Sonatas from the Royal Chapel of Madrid
Eudora Records

This recording of sonatas written between 1778 and 1818 for viola auditions for instrumentalist positions at the Royal Chapel of Madrid is generous in multiple respects. At eighty-four minutes, it exceeds the standard eighty-minute limit of most CD recordings, and in featuring eleven sonatas it's also comprehensive for a single-volume presentation. Seven of them are two-movement works, however, (the others three) which makes for pieces that present themselves with concision and dispatch. In featuring material from the archives of the Spanish Royal Chapel, the release has great value too in highlighting repertoire too little known and too seldom performed. Enlightening historical background is provided by Judith Ortega in a booklet commentary, and bios for the composers and performers offer additional context.

As rewarding as it to listen to the sonatas of Juan Balado, Gaetano Brunetti, José Lidón, Juan Oliver y Astorga, and Felipe de los Ríos, what recommends the release most is the exquisite playing of baroque violist Pablo de Pedro, baroque cellist Lorenzo Meseguer, and harpsichordist Samuel Maíllo. Performing on original period instruments, the three bring the pieces to life with vivid and vital renditions that make the material feel as if it was created not centuries but days ago. The forty-year span covered by the sonatas provides an illuminating glimpse into the style that predominated and the evolution it underwent during that time (the album's chronological sequencing invites the listener to follow the music's stylistic development). Animated with rhythmic energy and exuding the lyricism of the Spanish era, the album provides a fascinating insight into the Royal Chapel's instrumental tradition.

Of course, each of the performers comes to the project with impressive credentials. Pablo de Pedro, to begin, is a specialist in historical performance and principal violist of the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Concentus Musicus Wien, the Irish Baroque Orchestra, Europa Galante, and Collegium Vocale Gent. Also a member of the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Meseguer is Professor of Cello at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Castilla y León, while Maíllo, a native of Béjar, likewise holds a position at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Castilla y León and has performed as a soloist with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and as continuo player with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León and the “Andrés Segovia” Chamber Orchestra.

In an introductory note, the violist identifies a couple of works' special details, but what's more telling is the statement by him that comes after, that he'd better desist “since otherwise we would be compelled to comment on nearly every movement, given the truly musical gems these sonatas contain.” Such a claim might appear hyperbolic, yet the recording supports his contention, and as listing all of the highlights that appear would be excessive a representative number will have to suffice.

A trio of commanding three-part sonatas by Felipe de los Ríos from 1778 to 1781 opens the set, the festive one in C Major enticing on melodic and contrapuntal grounds and distinguished by a stirring adagio at its centre. Whereas the yearning slow movement in the D Major setting is perhaps even more affecting (regal too), the concluding rondo is almost rustic in its folk-tinged earthiness. An eight-year gap separates the G Major sonata, arguably the most refined of de los Ríos's three, from Brunetti's 1789 one in D Major, which proves to be a terrific showcase for de Pedro's expressive artistry (note the Spanish flavour that seeps into the “Larguetto sostenuto” movement). Ranging between four to six minutes apiece, four breezy statements by Oliver y Astorga follow, each opening with a gentle adagio and concluding with a spirited allegro and the former typically a succinct lead-in to the longer latter. As the album moves into its final section, Lidón and Balado get their respective moments, with a fifth piece by Oliver y Astorga appearing between theirs. Whereas the opening “Larguetto cantabile” movement of Lidón's 1806 D Major sonata arrests the ear with a plaintive ache, the adagio that introduces Oliver y Astorga's E flat Major setting (1807) is noticeably sinuous. Arriving eleven years later, the album-ending D Major sonata by Balado upholds the standard of its predecessors with a lyrical adagio and rousing rondo.

March 2026