While the benefits of raising toddlers on Mozart are compelling, Dmitri Shostakovich’s music, particularly his Symphony No 11, should be avoided at all costs.

Given its highly “cinematic” depictions of war, pre-performance disclaimers such as “explicit musical content” or “listener discretion advised” would not go astray even for any uninitiated concertgoer.

Of its “brutal, horrific” nature, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s music director designate Tarmo Peltokoski also addressed the 11th’s darkness at last year’s 2025/26 season launch in a video message.

A rendition of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No 11

Sticking to his guns, and the full orchestral artillery for that matter, Peltokoski and the HK Phil unleashed a rendition of The Year 1905 – subtitled for its depiction of events sparking the 1905 revolution in Russia – that was a thrilling, albeit disturbing, portrayal of war and its aftermath.

The 26-year-old Finn’s insistence on extracting maximum acerbic bite from the players was one thing, though often the starkly contrasted passages of looming terror and desolation before and after the acts of “intervention” were most impacting, leaving listeners with goosebumps and in a state of shell-shock.

Sounds resembling vulnerable pleas in the muted solos from Nitiphum Bamrungbanthum’s trumpet and Lin Jiang’s horn were spot on as they emerged from HK Phil’s uncomfortably still, icy opening in The Palace Square, a disturbing depiction of the descending crowds of petitioners on St Petersburg’s (Winter) Palace Square on the morning of Bloody Sunday.

James Boznos’ quiet and ominous timpani beats, a crucial part of this scene of looming trouble over an extended, static landscape, were poignant, and as Peltokoski built the orchestral busyness with foresight that well belies his years, the agitation turned gripping.