No one has written about this yet on chicagoclassicalmusic.org so I get to do it. Gramophone Magazine, a British publication, has named our very own Chicago Symphony Orchestra as the number one ranked orchestra in the United States, and the fifth highest ranked orchestra in the world. Congratulations to our friends and colleagues at the CSO. It’s nice to see others recognize what we in Chicago have known for a long time – this band rocks! I am including the full list for those of you who haven’t yet seen it.
I know that some people are uncomfortable with ratings like this. It is, after all, pretty subjective when you look at the top 10-15 orchestras on this list. But there must be something in our mental make-up that draws us to ranking things like orchestras, most embarrassing reality TV moments, best deep dish pizza, and the like. Here’s my question for you. Are there rankings in the classical music world that do make sense, and help us process all of the information floating around? What lists do you like or approve of?
Gramophone’s Top 20 Orchestra in the World
1) Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam
2) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
3) Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
4) London Symphony Orchestra
5) Chicago Symphony Orchestra
6) Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
7) Cleveland Orchestra
8) Los Angeles Philharmonic
9) Budapest Festival Orchestra
10) Dresden Staatskapelle
11) Boston Symphony Orchestra
12) New York Philharmonic
13) San Francisco Symphony
14) Mariinsky Theater Orchestra (tours the West as the Kirov Orchestra)
15) Russian National Orchestra
16) Leningrad Philharmonic
17) Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
18) Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
19) Saito Kinen Orchestra (Japan)
20) Czech Philharmonic
Posted in
MusicLover (not verified) | Tue, 11/25/2008 - 5:39pm
- reply
- Month
- Week
- Day
- Table
- List
»Guest (not verified) | Wed, 11/26/2008 - 9:55am
Hi MusicLover,
Thanks for the comment. I agree that different listeners can relate to the sounds of the orchestra in completely different ways, and of course, this is all subjective. Maybe these lists recognize sustained excellence, as all of the orchestras included have achieved. Why do we like to (or maybe need to) rank things like this? I suspect its evolutionary for us to compare and rank everything about human behavior and acheivement....even orchestras! At any rate, its fun.
Jim
- reply
- Month
- Week
- Day
- Table
- List
»Joe from MO (not verified) | Mon, 01/05/2009 - 1:16pm
I agree with Music Lover. It is kind of silly to rank orchestras. What criteria was used? It is just the orchestras that people felt sounded best? How can people know that - can you judge an orchestra after just one performance, or many? Or did each orchestra play the same piece and then they were judged? The fact is, this was a popularity contest, where people from the U.S., Europe, and Asia gave their opinions. It is something that would change with each poll. Enjoy it while you have it, Chicago, because it means nothing. It's a popularity contest where Chicago got the most votes, but it has nothing to do with which orchestra is the best.
And if you asked me which one is the best, I would say - who knows? I have seen several good orchestras - New York, Houston, St. Louis, Chicago - but I could not venture a guess as to which one is "the best".
- reply
- Month
- Week
- Day
- Table
- List
»Guest (not verified) | Sun, 11/30/2008 - 8:20am
- reply
- Month
- Week
- Day
- Table
- List
»Dileep Gangolli (not verified) | Tue, 12/02/2008 - 7:25pm
While the idea of a top 20 ranking of orchestras is foolish at best, here is a much better method:
Like the NCAA playoff, there should be an annual competitition (A battle of the bands if you will) with orchestras invited to play a concert as part of a festival in say NYC or Lucerne.
Retired guest conductors with no real job prospects could be the adjudicators. Like the Olympics, they should represent various nationalities so there is no partiality.
Orchestras will be paired off against each other. One will play the first half, the other will play the second half.
If held in Rome, the judges can give thumbs up or down and let out the lions for the losing orchestra.
All of sudden, sitting in the back of the second violin section doesnt seem so bad, does it?
The winning orchestra proceeds to the next level against the winner of a similar previous round.
Just like the NCAA, we can have our Sweet 16 and Final Four. Of course, there will be a Cinderalla team.
Could it be the Tulsa Philharmonic, this year???? Last year Baden-Baden made it to the Final Four but got creamed by the Berlin Phil when they tried to perform Copland 3 Symphony.
Think of the money that would be wagered in Vegas. Berlin Phil, New York Phil, and our own CSO would be 3:1. A 10% rake could be used to fund the orchestras to the thrill of development directors world-wide.
Like the Oscar, the final award would be a gold statue of Toscanini that would pass from the winner year to year (much like that Stanley Cup).
Now isn't that a much better method to come up with the Top 20 than this list?
- reply
- Month
- Week
- Day
- Table
- List
»Guest (not verified) | Fri, 12/05/2008 - 5:31pm
Dileep,
This is the best idea I've heard in ages! Think of the TV ratings. Maybe we could find one of those old, washed up conductors with a British accent who could insult contestants on a regular basis. It would be huge. See folks, creativity is not dead in classical music -- it's just hiding at the Chicago Sinfonietta.
Guest
- reply
- Month
- Week
- Day
- Table
- List
»