I first heard the Italian/Australian pianist Jonathan Ferrucci in a live recorded performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations that stood out for its stylish maturity and astute attention to detail, revealing the influence of his mentor Angela Hewitt. His debut solo CD devoted to Bach’s keyboard Toccatas makes a similar impression. The metric freedom and liberal embellishments characterizing these works’ fantasia-like sections are handled with such subtlety and proportion that one hardly notices the occasional filling out of textures or octave doublings, nor the pianist’s use of the sostenuto pedal to ensure the utmost transparency in fugal textures. As such, the G Minor Fugue’s dynamic peaks and valleys may catch you unaware. The E Minor Fugue’s exposition rarely has sounded so buoyant and light, while Ferrucci’s crisp detaché articulation and perky accents in the D Major Presto’s rapid flourishes evoke the sound of a harpsichord without trying to imitate that instrument. To be sure, some listeners may respond more readily to the dynamism and dash of Claire Huangci’s recent Toccata cycle, as well as its overtly pianistic orientation; compare, for example, Ferrucci’s relatively inhibited C Minor Fugue to Huangci’s lively account. Still, such clear, intelligent and excellently engineered Bach playing is not to be taken lightly. At first I thought the two booklet photos with Ferrucci in yoga poses were a mite pretentious – he is a dedicated Ashtanga practitioner. But, hey, if you want to show off your perfect upward facing dog, then flaunt it, baby, flaunt it!
