The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Tarmo Peltokoski - "Wagner - The Ring: An Orchestral Adventure" album - CD Review, September 6th 2026

Premiere album, released on March 20th

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra's debut album on the Deutsche Grammophon label was released on March 20th- an album featuring selections from the incredible opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen" by Richard Wagner, arranged by contemporary Dutch composer Henk de Vlieger.

The musician affirms that his intention was to combine the highlights of the orchestral work in order to create a unitary and compact symphonic poem, in which the main narrative threads are clearly recognizable, looking to avoid making it feel like a collage, instead opting to keep the musical fragments in their original form whenever it was possible to do so. The result is a captivating sonoric creation, intense and emotional, which expresses the dramatics and the scale of Richard Wagner's work, masterfully interpreted under the conductor Tarmo Peltokoski, an already established Finnish musician whom, during the 2026-2027 season, will become Hong Kong's Philharmonic Orchestra's music director, with a starting contract of 4 years.

"This orchestra specializes in the Wagnerian repertoire, and we are very excited to go on a European tour during November and December, during which we will perform this very work; glad to share our music with the public from overseas," Tarmo Peltokoski says, honored to conduct this remarkable orchestra, the first from Asia to be named Orchestra of the Year, awarded by Gramophone in 2019, in recognition of its complete recording of "Der Ring des Nibelungen" by Richard Wagner.