For the Record, Op. 342: Chloe Chua; Fabiola Kim; Mike Block

July 18, 2025, 7:04 PM · Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening! Click on the highlighted links to obtain each album or learn more about the artists.

Violinist Chloe Chua.

Mozart Violin Concertos
Chloe Chua, violin
Ziyu He, viola
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Hans Graf conducting

Singaporean violinist Chloe Chua, 18, who won first prize (jointly with Christian Li) in the Junior division of the 2018 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition, presents an album that includes Mozart's five concertos for violin, as well as the Sinfonia Concertante (played with violist Ziyu He, winner of the 2016 Yehudi Menuhin Competition), and the Rondos K. 269 and K. 373. "I am especially enchanted by the elegant, youthful and energetic characteristics of his music," said Chua, who started the recordings in 2022 at age 15 and completed them the following year. "These pieces were largely composed during (Mozart's) teens.... I decided to just follow my heart as a teenager, like him, and find my own interpretations as one." BELOW: Chloe Chua performs Mozart Concerto No. 5 with the Singapore Symphony.

Paraphrases
Fabiola Kim, violin

It might seem unimaginable that the violin, with its one bow on four strings, can perform polyphonic works from the piano, Lied and orchestral repertoire unaccompanied; but the great virtuosos of the last several centuries have met exactly that challenge in their remarkable compositions and arrangements. Paganini, Ernst and their successors pushed the technical possibilities of the violin to the limit. On this album of solo violin music, Fabiola Kim presents works by Ernst, Corigliano, Paganini, Milstein and Yun. This album follows Fabiola's 2019 release of works by Walton, Hartmann and Bartók, called 1939. BELOW: Grand Caprice sur "Le Roi des Aulnes," Op. 26 by Ernst.

Parallels
Mike Block, cello
Folk Physics

Parallels is the result of a creative collaboration between composer John Nolan (Folk Physics), renowned cellist Mike Block, and producer Dan Cardinal. Produced over five years beginning at the start of lockdown, each track was crafted and recorded independently, a testament to the trust and synergy between the artists. The album draws inspiration from the atmospheric worlds of Ólafur Arnalds, Brian Eno, and Nils Frahm, weaving ambient textures with emotive strings and nuanced production. Parallels is a collection of wordless-songs about solitude, distance and connection between parallel paths. BELOW: "Mire."

If you have a new recording you would like us to consider for inclusion in our "For the Record" feature, please e-mail Editor Laurie Niles. Be sure to include the name of your album, a link to it and a short description of what it includes.

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