There’s much to savor in Brahms’ three violin sonatas through the symbiotic and refined musical partnership of violinist Pierre Amoyal and pianist Frederic Chiu. Their sensitive ensemble give-and-take beautifully projects the G major sonata’s lyricism, especially in the stark first-movement recapitulation and throughout the slow movement. The sunny introspection that permeates the A major sonata also comes through in a stylish, beautifully balanced performance. At times, however, the polyphonic interplay in the D minor sonata’s outer movements gets washed away by sonics that are too reverberant, falling short of the warm focus and intimacy this music needs and receives from such teams as Suk/Katchen, Szeryng/Rubinstein, Stern/Zakin, and Grumiaux/Sebok. Amoyal and Chiu give a dandy account of the “F-A-E” Sonata Scherzo, although the repeated notes could fly by with more intensity and winged thrust. In a less-crowded catalog, the refined musicianship of Amoyal and Chiu might top the Brahms Sonata list rather than stand just a smidgen below the reference versions listed above.
