HK Phil Releases Debut Album with Deutsche Grammophon
Richard Wagner’s The Ring – An Orchestral Adventure
Conducted by Tarmo Peltokoski
19 MAR 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Dennis Wu
Director of Marketing
Tel: (852) 2721 9035
Email: dennis.wu@hkphil.org
Emily Hui
Media Relations and Communications Manager
Tel: (852) 2721 1585
Email: emily.hui@hkphil.org
[19 March 2026, Hong Kong] The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) proudly announces the release of its debut album on Deutsche Grammophon on 20 March 2026 (Friday), featuring Richard Wagner’s The Ring – An Orchestral Adventure (arranged by Henk de Vlieger), conducted by its incoming Music Director, Tarmo Peltokoski. This landmark collaboration with the world’s most historic classical label marks a new chapter in the HK Phil’s international recording profile.
"World-class Wagner…The climax arrived in Götterdämmerung, where the tragedy unfolded scene by scene toward the Funeral March, building powerful tension. Finally, the themes reappeared one by one, while the strings conveyed a sigh of remorse that moved audiences."
-- Oliver Chou, Ta Kung Pao
Arranged by Dutch composer and percussionist Henk de Vlieger, The Ring – An Orchestral Adventure is a condensed yet thrilling symphonic journey that captures the drama and grandeur of Wagner’s monumental cycle. It was recorded live at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall on 28 June 2025. In 2019, HK Phil became the first orchestra in Asia to receive Gramophone Magazine’s Orchestra of the Year Award, in recognition of its recordings of Wagner’s complete Ring cycle.
The full digital album will be available on all major streaming platforms from 20 March 2026 (Friday). For more details, please visit www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/artists/tarmo-peltokoski. The vinyl album, set to release worldwide in July, will go on pre-order simultaneously through Universal Music Hong Kong's official online store.
The live performance is also available on Deutsche Grammophon’s streaming platform STAGE+ at www.stage-plus.com.
Tarmo Peltokoski, Music Director Designate of the HK Phil, said: “I’m honoured to present the Hong Kong Philharmonic’s first album on Deutsche Grammophon, with the Ring adventure by de Vlieger who has combined the infamous bleeding chunks into a symphonic journey from the depths of the Rhine to the burning Valhalla. The orchestra is specialised in Wagner, and we are also excited to embark on the European tour in November and December playing this very piece, happy to be sharing our musicmaking also with audiences overseas.”
Bernhard Fleischer, Chief Executive of the HK Phil, said: “This marks a significant milestone for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra as we launch our debut album with Deutsche Grammophon. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to partner with such a prestigious label, which shares our commitment to artistic excellence. As a leading orchestra in Asia, we are proud to share our passion for music with listeners worldwide and to continue elevating the profile of the HK Phil on the global stage.”
Dr Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsche Grammophon and New Business Strategy Global Classics, said: “I am thrilled that the decade-long devotion of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra to Wagner‘s Ring cycle now culminates in the release of an impressive symphonic version on Deutsche Grammophon. In the 150th anniversary year of the tetralogy, Music Director Tarmo Peltokoski leads the ensemble to a new dimension of intensity and nuance, and he showcases the strengths of the rarely performed arrangement by de Vlieger, shaping a huge arch over an hour of music in which each detail is still finely executed. It is especially exciting that global audiences can witness this breathtaking symphonic Ring adventure also audiovisually on Deutsche Grammophon’s streaming platform STAGE+ in the highest resolution and immersive quality.”
Gary Chan, Managing Director of Universal Music Hong Kong and Senior Vice President of Universal Music Greater China, said: "As a leading orchestra in the Asia-Pacific region, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra has long enjoyed international acclaim. With its Music Director Designate, the highly sought-after young maestro Tarmo Peltokoski, at the helm, I eagerly anticipate this masterfully produced album. It allows music lovers worldwide to hear the exceptional artistry of the orchestra that Hong Kong is so proud of."
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Music Director Designate: Tarmo Peltokoski
Principal Guest Conductor: Long Yu
Resident Conductor: Lio Kuokman, JP
Composer-in-Residence: Esa-Pekka Salonen
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is regarded as one of the leading orchestras in Asia. Presenting more than 150 concerts over a 44-week season, the HK Phil attracts more than 200,000 music lovers annually. The HK Phil won the prestigious UK classical music magazine Gramophone’s 2019 Orchestra of the Year Award – the first orchestra in Asia to receive this accolade.
Tarmo Peltokoski is the HK Phil’s Music Director Designate in 2025/26 and will become Music Director in the 2026/27 season. Currently, Long Yu serves as Principal Guest Conductor and Lio Kuokman is Resident Conductor. Esa-Pekka Salonen is Composer-in-Residence in the 2025/26 season.
The HK Phil has flourished in the last two decades under Jaap van Zweden (Music Director, 2012–2024) and Edo de Waart (Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, 2004–2012). The orchestra successfully completed a four-year journey through Wagner’s Ring Cycle, performing and recording one opera from the cycle annually from 2015 to 2018. The concert performances were well received, and the live Naxos recordings were praised by critics, and garnered the Gramophone Orchestra of the Year Award 2019. Other recent recording projects include Mahler’s Symphony no. 10, Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 10, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 6 and Piano Concerto no. 1. The HK Phil collaborates with Deutsche Grammophon and releases Wagner’s The Ring: An Orchestral Adventure, arranged by Henk de Vlieger and conducted by Tarmo Peltokoski.
The HK Phil has toured extensively across the Chinese Mainland. The orchestra undertook a major tour in 2017 to Seoul, Osaka, Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The HK Phil toured Europe, Asia, and the Chinese Mainland , performing in 22 cities across ten countries in its 50th anniversary. In the 2025/26 season, the orchestra will perform in Europe, Japan, Korea and the Chinese Mainland again.
Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Stéphane Denève, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Gatti, Daniel Harding, Pietari Inkinen, Paavo Järvi, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Vasily Petrenko, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Ning Feng, Mao Fujita, Jonas Kaufmann, Lang Lang, Leonidas Kavakos, Olivier Latry, Yo-Yo Ma, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Aristo Sham, and Akiko Suwanai. The HK Phil promotes the work of Hong Kong and Chinese composers through an active commissioning programme, and it has released recordings on the Naxos label featuring Tan Dun and Bright Sheng, each conducting their own compositions.
The HK Phil runs diverse education and community programmes in schools and outdoor spaces, bringing music into the hearts of tens of thousands of children and families every year.
The Swire Group has been the Principal Patron of the HK Phil since 2006. Through this current sponsorship donation, the largest in the orchestra’s history, Swire endeavours to foster access to classical music and stimulate cultural participation in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland. A critical aspect of this is engaging with the community, especially young people. The sponsorship will also help promote local artistic excellence and enhance Hong Kong’s reputation as one of the great cities in the world.
Thanks to a significant subsidy from the Government of the HKSAR and long-term funding from Principal Patron Swire, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and other supporters, the HK Phil now boasts a full-time annual schedule of core classical repertoire and innovative popular programming, extensive education and community programmes, and collaborations with, amongst others, Hong Kong Ballet, Opera Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Arts Festival.
The history of the HK Phil dates back to the establishment of the Sino-British Orchestra in 1947. In 1957, the orchestra was officially registered as the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and became fully professional in 1974. The HK Phil is a registered charitable organisation.
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and is a Venue Partner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
Swire is the Principal Patron of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Tarmo Peltokoski
Conductor Laureate / The Latvian National Symphony Orchestra
Principal Guest Conductor / The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Principal Guest Conductor / Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest
Music Director / Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse
Music Director Designate / Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Exklusivkünstler / Konzerthaus Dortmund
“A talent of a century”
– Tagesspiegel
“Disconcerting, breathtaking, tearjerkingly beautiful. Even writing about it brings back goosebumps. How he did it is a mystery but the most beautiful concert of the year was played in Rotterdam. Tarmo Peltokoski. Write that name down.”
– NRC Rotterdam
“the Finnish conducting miracle”
– Tagesspiegel
“Watch out- here comes a genius!… Peltokoski not only has phenomenal technique, but an energy, a musical instinct, a stylistic and expressive clarity as well as fiery dynamics, all of which leave one speechless.”
– Diapason Magazine, Rémy Louis
In season 2025/26 Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski will start his tenure as Music Director of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse after already serving as Music Director Designate in season 2024/25. He was awarded the title “Principal Guest Conductor” of The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in January 2022, the first conductor to hold this position in the orchestra’s history. In May 2022, Peltokoski was named Music and Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. He started his term in the 22/23 season and after three years he became conductor laureate. He was subsequently named Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest. Peltokoski will become the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s Music Director beginning in the 2026/27 season, after serving as Music Director Designate in 2025/26. Furthermore, Tarmo Peltokoski begins his 3 year residency as “Exklusivkünstler” at Konzerthaus Dortmund in season 2025/26.
In recent seasons he made debuts with Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, NHK Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Göteborgs Symfoniker as well as SWR Symphonieorchester at Pfingstfestspiele Baden-Baden, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Bayerisches Staatsorchester.
Summer festival debuts include Rheingau Musik Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, the Verbier Festival, Musikfest Bremen and Festival de Música y Danza Granada. In August 2022 at the age of 22, he completed his first Wagner Ring cycle at the Eurajoki Bel Canto Festival. Tarmo Peltokoski returned to Eurajoki Bel Canto Festival to conduct Tristan und Isolde in April 2023. In summer 2023 he conducted Siegfried with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and Don Giovanni at the Finnish National Opera in October 2023.
In August 2024, he conducted Wagner’s Götterdämmerung in Riga, followed by his BBC Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2024 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Later that season, he appeared with the Filarmonica della Scala, Philharmonia Zürich and conducted Wagner’s FliegenderHolländer in Luxembourg and Brussels as well as Parsifal in Riga.
Highlights of season 2025/26 will be the upcoming Wagner opera productions of Tristan und Isolde (Dutch National Opera, February 2026), and his debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin with Parsifal (April 2026). The season also includes Die Zauberflöte with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in performances at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Bremen and Enescu Festival in Bucharest.
He has worked with soloists including Yuja Wang, Asmik Grigorian, Matthias Goerne, Julia Fischer, Golda Schultz, Martin Fröst, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Janine Jansen, Martin Helmchen, Leonidas Kavakos, Camilla Nylund and Sol Gabetta.
Tarmo Peltokoski began his studies with professor emeritus Jorma Panula at the age of 14 and studied with Sakari Oramo at the Sibelius Academy. He has also been taught by Hannu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Also an acclaimed pianist, he studied piano at the Sibelius Academy with Antti Hotti. His piano playing has been awarded at many competitions and he has appeared as a soloist with all major Finnish orchestras.
In October 2023 Tarmo Peltokoski signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. His debut album was released in May 2024. In March 2026, he released a new recording of The Ring – An Orchestral Adventure with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2022 he received the Lotto Prize at Rheingau Musik Festival and in 2023 he received the OPUS Klassik for his recording with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
In addition Tarmo Peltokoski has also studied composing and arranging, and especially enjoys music comedy and improvisation.
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