Biography
Pianist Pascal Amoyel first gained recognition through his interpretations of solo works by Liszt, Chopin, and Scriabin, while also maintaining an active partnership with cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand across multiple repertories. Beyond performing, he has pursued careers as an actor, composer, and writer. His discography spans several Chopin-centered releases alongside explorations of late-Romantic and post-Romantic repertoire by Scriabin, Grieg, and additional composers. In 2024, he and Bertrand issued the recital album Cello Dreams: Berceuses pour violoncelle et piano.
Amoyel entered the world on January 2, 1971, in Rozay-en-Brie, located in north-central France. Displaying remarkable ability at an early age, he entered the École Normale de Musique in Paris at ten, where György Cziffra took notice and incorporated him into a pedagogical line descending directly from Franz Liszt. At seventeen he advanced to the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSM), studying principally with Jacques Rouvier and Pascal Devoyon. There he earned first prizes in both solo piano and chamber music, then captured the International Competition of Young Pianists in Paris in 1994. Throughout the 1990s his solo engagements expanded, and in 1999 he encountered Emmanuelle Bertrand, with whom he has since appeared regularly as a duo. Their first joint recording, Emmanuelle Bertrand Plays Alkan and Liszt, appeared in 2001.
Amoyel sustained his independent career, issuing a double album containing Chopin’s complete nocturnes on the Calliope label in 2004. He has toured throughout Europe, Britain, North America, and Japan, emphasizing Romantic and post-Romantic works while also presenting contemporary scores by Olivier Greif, Pierre Schaeffer, Bechara El Khoury, and Aubert Lemeland. In addition, he has written and starred in several theatrical productions, among them “Block 15” and the solo shows “The Pianist with 50 Fingers, or the Incredible Destiny of György Cziffra,” “The Day I Met Franz Liszt,” and “Looking for Beethoven.” Further recordings include a 2008 solo account of Liszt’s Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses and, with Bertrand, a 2022 collection of Brahms sonatas and Liebeslieder, followed by the 2024 recital Cello Dreams, all issued on the Harmonia Mundi label. In 2020 he was named Chevalier in the Order of Academic Palms.
Amoyel entered the world on January 2, 1971, in Rozay-en-Brie, located in north-central France. Displaying remarkable ability at an early age, he entered the École Normale de Musique in Paris at ten, where György Cziffra took notice and incorporated him into a pedagogical line descending directly from Franz Liszt. At seventeen he advanced to the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSM), studying principally with Jacques Rouvier and Pascal Devoyon. There he earned first prizes in both solo piano and chamber music, then captured the International Competition of Young Pianists in Paris in 1994. Throughout the 1990s his solo engagements expanded, and in 1999 he encountered Emmanuelle Bertrand, with whom he has since appeared regularly as a duo. Their first joint recording, Emmanuelle Bertrand Plays Alkan and Liszt, appeared in 2001.
Amoyel sustained his independent career, issuing a double album containing Chopin’s complete nocturnes on the Calliope label in 2004. He has toured throughout Europe, Britain, North America, and Japan, emphasizing Romantic and post-Romantic works while also presenting contemporary scores by Olivier Greif, Pierre Schaeffer, Bechara El Khoury, and Aubert Lemeland. In addition, he has written and starred in several theatrical productions, among them “Block 15” and the solo shows “The Pianist with 50 Fingers, or the Incredible Destiny of György Cziffra,” “The Day I Met Franz Liszt,” and “Looking for Beethoven.” Further recordings include a 2008 solo account of Liszt’s Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses and, with Bertrand, a 2022 collection of Brahms sonatas and Liebeslieder, followed by the 2024 recital Cello Dreams, all issued on the Harmonia Mundi label. In 2020 he was named Chevalier in the Order of Academic Palms.
Albums
