Pianist brings joyous sounds of Andalucia to Great Bedwyn Church

Bedwyn Music Series: Jonathan Ferrucci, piano, on Friday, July 29, at St Mary’s Church, Great Bedwyn. Review by CHARLES MEDLAM

Italian-Australian Jonathan Ferrucci studied in Sydney, Florence, Pisa and London before embarking on a career, which has so far taken him to Denmark, Hungary, Germany, Japan and the US. His highly impressive recital on Friday evening at St Mary’s, Great Bedwyn contained two pieces from the baroque, one from the classical era, a Spanish icon, and an enormous monument to post-Wagnerian chromaticism.

He started with two contrasting toccatas by Bach: the almost religious g minor, and the robustly quirky D major, both of which were expertly explained throughout by his clear voice-leading and intelligent structural signposting. Three pieces from Albeniz’s first book of Iberia from 1906 breathed Spanishness in every bar. Ferrucci coaxed exquisitely limpid sounds from his boudoir grand in the gorgeous melodies of the Evocation, conjured up breaking waves and sailing ships with the lilting 6/8 rhythms of El Puerto (the Port of Cadiz), and accompanied us through the streets of Seville on Corpus Christi Day with marching bands, church bells and flamenco guitars, filling a modest Wiltshire church with the bright colours and joyous sounds of Andalucia.

After a short break we were treated to Mozart’s lone Adagio in b minor K540, which asks more questions than it answers. Ferrucci transported us to an intimate Biedermeier drawing room, where we were privileged to hear Mozart share his private musings with a few close friends. César Franck’s Prelude, Chorale and Fugue in b minor from 1884 is a massive, intensely chromatic, late nineteenth century reimagining of a Bach toccata, and such is the complexity of the writing that the listener with closed eyes could be forgiven for thinking that there were two pianos or at least two pianists on stage. Ferrucci got straight to the heart of the late romantic soul, ravishing us with sheer beauty, his consummate and unshowy virtuosity always at the service of the music.

It was back to Spain for a lively short encore (our pianist had a train to catch!) by Granados.

How lucky we are to have such world-class music-making on our doorstep.