While the benefits of raising toddlers on Mozart are compelling, Dmitri Shostakovich\u2019s music, particularly his Symphony No 11<\/em>, should be avoided at all costs.<\/p>\n Given its highly \u201ccinematic\u201d depictions of war, pre-performance disclaimers such as \u201cexplicit musical content\u201d or \u201clistener discretion advised\u201d would not go astray even for any uninitiated concertgoer.<\/p>\n Sticking to his guns, and the full orchestral artillery for that matter, Peltokoski and the HK Phil unleashed a rendition of The Year 1905<\/em> \u2013 subtitled for its depiction of events sparking the 1905 revolution in Russia \u2013 that was a thrilling, albeit disturbing, portrayal of war and its aftermath.<\/p>\n The 26-year-old Finn\u2019s 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 \u201cintervention\u201d were most impacting, leaving listeners with goosebumps and in a state of shell-shock.<\/p>\n Sounds resembling vulnerable pleas in the muted solos from Nitiphum Bamrungbanthum\u2019s trumpet and Lin Jiang\u2019s horn were spot on as they emerged from HK Phil\u2019s uncomfortably still, icy opening in The Palace Square<\/em>, a disturbing depiction of the descending crowds of petitioners on St Petersburg\u2019s (Winter) Palace Square on the morning of Bloody Sunday.<\/p>\n James Boznos\u2019 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.<\/p>\nA rendition of Dmitri Shostakovich\u2019s Symphony No 11<\/h3>\n
![\"Tarmo](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/04\/27\/37d2a903-252d-4d2a-a379-aba6ea0f51ed_03415dfd.jpg\" "\\"Tarmo")
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