These are my top 10 Orchestras:
Berlin Phil
Boston Symphony
Chicago Symphony
Cleveland Orchestra
Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam
London Symphony
Orchestre de Paris
Staatskapelle Dresden
Bavarian Radio Symphony
Vienna Philharmonic
I was wondering what else you guys think? What metric do you use to pick your Top 10?
Hi
I do not have a long list of favorite orchestra. I like Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony and Vienna Philharmonic. These are my favorite orchestra.
I do not have favourite orchestras as such. But I wonder whether you list is about the current orchestras, or those from years gone by, or overall, since their performances tend to change as their music directors, conductors and players change.
I also do not have a list but the Berlin Phil is my favorite. I have a CD of them playing Tchaikovsky's 5th and 1812 Overture. By FAR my favorite recording of any music i own. It was given to me for my birthday and if you come across it, get it! VERY passionate
Well, my metrics are my taste, my experience and the recordings I own.
It's very difficult to pick up a Top 10, because as ChamberNut says there are a lot of very good orchestras all over the world, well-known and lesser known. In Germany we have some good Radio Symphony Orchestras - the Bavarian one was already mentioned, others are in Frankfurt, Cologne and Hamburg. The Gewandhaus orchestra Leipzig is also very good, it has a long tradition back to Mendelssohn. One of my favourites is the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, they made some fine recordings of Baroque and Classical music on Naxos.
I agree with most of those, incl the NY Phil, Berlin, Vienna, London, and Chicago....but what about the San Francisco Sym...quite a group (I would say, in my opinion, and you can take it or leave it, ...second-best to NY Phil in US).
As it is my home town orchestra, I appreciate your remarks! I'll be going to hear Mr. Tillson-Thomas conduct Tchaikovsky's fourth symphony on the 23rd of this month.
Vic
Les Violons du Roy
Akamedie für Alte Musik Berlin
La Petite Bande
Tafelmusik Orchestra
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Orchestra of the 18th century
Collegium Cartusianum
Concerto Köln
London Mozart Players
Les Musiciens du Louvre
Les Violons du Roy
Akamedie für Alte Musik Berlin
La Petite Bande
Tafelmusik Orchestra
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Orchestra of the 18th century
Collegium Cartusianum
Concerto Köln
London Mozart Players
Les Musiciens du Louvre
Heh, being from Québec City, I thought you'd say Les Violons du Roy . I only have one recording from them, and it's Appolo e Dafne and Silete venti. Excellent in every aspect!
Ooh this is tricky! Erm, Berlin Phil, Philharmonia of the Nations, St.Petersberg, Moscow Phil, Halle (yes, they do rock), London Mozart Players, London Symphony, Polish Radio, Orchestra Revolutionaire, Vienna Philharmonic!
This is not true. Every player in the Vienna Phil. has to have some years of experience in the opera orchestra. And some of the more famous players do have small classes at the conservatory, but that is not uncommon for any orchestra players.
I'm pretty sure they'd be considered professional by the overwhelming majority ;-)
Because I live in Québec City I can attend Violons concerts. However, I didn't choose the orchestra because it was from Québec City. Rather because it is truly a great orchestra.
I think there's much to be said for the spirit of "support your hometown side." Then again, I guess that's very easy for me to say, because my hometowns have been... well- look at my screen-name
In any event, I think that if one were to do a Monopoly-board based on Symphony Orchestras, Vienna PO and Berlin PO would be Boardwalk and Park Place, respectively. Beyond that, I'll also admit to a fondness for the Concertgebouw and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (lucky enough to have heard the latter live). Any further personal comment would be silly, as your humble dilettante ought not presume to pass judgement on many of the world's greatest musicians.
I don't have a list, I haven't listened to enough classical music yet, but up until now my favourite orchestra is The Academy Of Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields. I also like the Berlin Philharmonic, but Karajan's... over-emotionality can get on my nerves.
I'm pickin' 12, in four groups of three. No particular order within each group, but the groups are in order of preference.
Group 1--Chicago, Berlin, Concertgebouw.
Group 2--London Sym, Philharmonia, Vienna.
Group 3--Boston, Gewandhaus, Czech PO.
Group 4--St. Petersburg, Philadelphia, Bavarian RSO.
I think that George Szell was nothing less than the greatest conductor who ever lived, and under his Music Directorship, the Cleveland Orch was the greatest orchestra in the world. But I think it is now nowhere near as good as it was under Szell. As for the MYPO, its a great orchestra, but in a mediocre hall. They'd have to be in my top 12 in any other venue; I suppose I'd drop the Bavarian to accommodate them.
And that's why I think everyone should also list a period along with each orchestra. The members (of the orchestra) change, and more importantly the directors/conductors change, and that seems to be the biggest influence on the listener.
Has anyone heard of "The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields"? I have heard of some of their recordings and they sound so clear and pristine to me. Maybe it's just the way iTunes changes the sound quality.
I liked the Berlin Philharmonic when Karajan conducted.
I hope to see the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis in March.
Then all of the normal ones. Boston Pops, Vienna Philharmonic, NYPO
Yup. My first CD of orchestral music was by them. (With three serenades by Mozart.) I think they will touring the U.S. this year or the next with Murray Perahia.
Has anyone heard of "The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields"? I have heard of some of their recordings and they sound so clear and pristine to me. Maybe it's just the way iTunes changes the sound quality.
Neville Marriner & the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields is excellent, yeah.
I don't have any "favourite" favourites, but I would say that when looking for recordings, here are some conductors and/or orchestras I tend to trust if I want a good representation of a composition (in no order)
Yoel Levi & the Atlanta Symphony
Pierre Boulez & the Cleveland Symphony
Neemi Jarvi & the Scottish National Orchestra
Simon Rattle & the Birmingham Symphony
Michael Tilson Thomas
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Kent Nagano
~josh
Yes, I believe I went onto their website and saw that they were coming here in March. They will be performing all of Beethoven's symphonies, concertos, and sonatas. I would love to go to see a #5 or #9. The nearest city that they are in is 6 hours away in Nashville, TN though..
I'm going to mention my local orchestra who I am a great fan of and I havn't seen listed so far in this discussion. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO).
I grew up in Chicago and the CSO is one of the great ones. The next great orchestra I have been priviledged to hear is the Royal Concertgebouw. Among the excellent ones I have heard is the Houston Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I have not heard the New York Philharmonic for 10 years but never thought they were quite as good as the CSO and ROyal Concertgebouw.
I agree with Handel- Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment are definately in my top orchestra list! Looking forward to their Night Shift concert this month- is anyone else going?
Im going to the night shift- looking forward to it too! I think its a great idea to have an informal concert where you can enjoy the music without worrying about all the rules like clapping in the right place. Cheap drinks are a bonus too!
I dont have a top ten as such but I think I would lean towards Vienna phil as one of my favourites as well as Moscow.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Classical Music Forum
2.6M posts
40.5K members
Since 2004
A forum community dedicated to classical music for musicians and other enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about composers, compositions, arrangements, collections, recordings, techniques, instruments, styles, reviews, classifieds, and more!