Speaking from Seoul, with summer temperatures soaring in the high 30s, violinist Clara-Jumi Kang declares she is very much looking forward to coming to Edinburgh. Her excited anticipation is not, of course, primarily about more tolerable temperatures for her and her 1702 Stradivarius violin, but about giving a debut recital in a Festival which she has followed for 20 years. That it is a solo recital, with no accompanist, no chamber ensemble, no orchestra, makes it all the more special.

‘When Nicola Benedetti first asked me, I assumed it would be for a duo recital. But she said, “no, it’s solo”.’ In thinking about solo violin repertoire, the six sonatas and partitas by Bach usually come to mind. For Kang, they are currently uppermost in her mind along with six sonatas by Belgian composer-violinist Eugène Ysaÿe which have their 100th anniversary in 2023.  ‘I’ve been performing Bach and Ysaÿe together for the past couple of years,’ says Kang, ‘and wanted to include as much Ysaÿe as possible in Edinburgh, but without making too long a programme.’ 

The perfectly balanced end result will combine Bach, including the monumental ‘Chaconne’ from Partita No 2, three Ysaÿe sonatas and music from Ukrainian-born 20th-century violin legend and pupil of Ysaÿe, Nathan Milstein. ‘He regarded Bach solo works very highly. There is also a very hidden message in Milstein’s music,’ says Kang, ‘as he took excerpts from the earlier Paganini Caprices for solo violin, starting with the famous 24th.  It’s an opportunity to tell the audience about the full circle of our solo repertoire for violin.’

Kang’s own story about playing the violin is no less fascinating than the stories behind her repertoire. Born in Germany, she started playing at the age of three, the third of four siblings in a musical family who granted her Christmas wish for a small-sized violin. ‘I loved the sound,’ she says, ‘but also that I had my very own toy!’ 

As a 21st-century virtuoso violinist, life is rather different. ‘We very rarely play our own violins,’ Kang says, ‘and are very grateful if we’re called to take care of a violin for a couple of years.’ Auction prices of Stradivarius violins can reach millions of dollars; the one Kang plays in Edinburgh belongs to a private individual and, while it’s not polite to ask the price, it will undoubtedly be worth going to hear her play it.

Clara-Jumi Kang performed at Queen’s Hall, 17 August.