Violinist Clara-Jumi Kang will start a nationwide tour with Italian pianist Alessio Bax with a recital on Oct. 14 at Seoul Arts Center.

This is Kang’s first nationwide tour since 2016 when she toured with pianist Son Yeol-eum, her close friend and the artistic director of the Pyeongchang Music Festival.

Kang’s upcoming recital will feature works of French and Belgian composers, including Debussy‘s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G minor, L148, Eugene Ysaye’s “Poeme Elegiaque,” Op. 12 and Cesar Franck’s Sonata for violin and piano in A major, FWV 8.

“When making a program, I think it is more fun to look into the relations between the composers of a certain period, how they overlap and create a story out of that, rather than just play what I am familiar with,” Kang said at a press conference Thursday in Seoul.

“If I had focused on playing as many different works as I could in my 20s, since last year I‘ve begun to choose what I really want to play,” added Kang, explaining how she came up with the program.

The program also includes Ferruccio Busoni’s Sonata for Violin & Piano No. 2 in E minor, Op. 36a, BV 244, a seldom performed piece by the Italian composer, who was greatly influenced by Bach.

“Busoni was a very complicated and fascinating figure,” Bax said. “This piece, you cannot pin it down to one style,” he said, given the composer’s complex background.

Busoni was born in Italy, worked mostly in Germany and lived in Finland. The Italian pianist-composer‘s works are known for their complexity with several melodic lines unwinding at once.

Bax will take the lead in unfolding the Busoni piece where the pianist takes great part in setting for the different variations within the piece, while Kang will lay string colors to them.

“Busoni is very specific with the details, meaning that he had in mind specific sounds he wanted. For instance, the composer has written in both Italian and German in some parts of the score to describe the exact directions for their performance,” Kang said.

“In a way, Busoni is a perfect piece for us. The way the piece was written, you need to have independent voices but at the same time work together. It’s a beautiful example of life,” Bax said.

Busoni’s Sonata for Violin & Piano No. 2 in E minor requires the musicians to “keep separate identities and work at the same time together yet make something that is so much more than two voices, so much more than addition of two people and characters,” Bax said.

The nationwide tour includes performances at Gangneung Arts Center Oct. 16, Nowon Arts Center on Oct. 18 and in Anseong on Oct. 19.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)