Pierre Amoyal’s playing evidences the kind of rich warmth that often characterises violinists trained in the Franco-Belgian tradition. There is a malleability of tone, rhythm and tempo that suits his predominantly Romantic repertoire, although his is not necessarily a consciously period approach. His early training was with Roland Charmy, first privately and then at the Paris Conservatoire where he won a premier prix aged twelve. Heifetz later invited him to America for further study, which perhaps engenders stylistic comparison with Auer’s Russian school, but it is Amoyal’s Frenchness that is most apparent—much more so indeed than with his contemporary Augustin Dumay (also trained by Charmy, then at the Juilliard School) who has been dubbed by The Strad as ‘the legitimate heir to […] Ysaÿe, Dubois and Grumiaux’.

This refreshingly idiomatic style naturally shines in certain contexts more than others. His 1991 Brahms sonata recordings (epitomised by Op. 78) are rather ponderous and lacking in energy, although beautifully voiced and thoughtfully constructed. Although his 2004 Spohr Concerto No. 8 conspicuously contradicts (as do all modern performances) Spohr’s strong views upon how his music should be played—the up-bow staccati in the finale, for example, are a rather ragged modern compromise—there is a generosity to Amoyal’s sound here and a soulful bearing that delivers the work with meaning. In the Prokofiev Violin Sonata Op. 80 (1999) his warmly-voiced tone is modified to account for Prokofiev’s lyrical, yet at times stark and brooding, work.

Attention should certainly be paid to Amoyal’s Fauré violin sonatas (1994)—both the well-known No. 1, Op. 13 and the late No. 2, Op. 108, which is comparatively and unjustly neglected. Amoyal’s reading of this music is natural and idiomatic; there is some effective tempo flexibility in the opening movement of Op. 13 and flamboyance in the third movement that readily identifies Amoyal’s French heritage. The virile Sonata No. 2 is performed with drama and an exciting tonal palette. Amoyal’s warm tone, with significant use of quite relaxed vibrato and readiness to employ expressive portamenti, is unquestionably akin to Fauré’s envisaged sound-world for these works. The Chausson Concerto with the Quatuor Ysaÿe (all Paris Conservatoire alumni) follows suit.

© Naxos Rights International Ltd. — David Milsom (A–Z of String Players, Naxos 8.558081-84)