I really had nothing to say about the "rankings" of the world's major orchestra's by The Gramophone magazine for its December 2008 cover story. But my bosses at the Chicago Sun-Times wanted a story and so, here 'tis. From the Saturday November 22 edition.
Sweet sound of success
CSO | Respected London magazine rates Chicago Symphony No. 5 in the world and tops in the U.S
BY ANDREW PATNER
What would happen if a leading British-based music magazine ranked the world's leading orchestras and the "winning" U.S. ensemble didn't care?
That's basically what's happened when leaders of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra shrugged their collective shoulders over the London monthly The Gramophone saying that it's the top classical outfit in the United States.
(Photo: Associated Press)
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
"I think it is safe to say that we are not advocates or necessarily firm believers in lists of this sort, given the subjective nature of these types of rankings," said CSO President Deborah Rutter, using the sort of language that one usually hears from someone who's just been voted off the island, not named king of the hill.
Although such surveys are basically not much more than publicity gimmicks for the outlet conducting and trumpeting them, The Gramophone's December cover story list is a cut above many similar rankings. (I've heard all 20 international orchestras on the list perform live, as well as two other excellent and historic U.S. orchestras that are odd omissions: the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony.)
Coming out on top is Amsterdam's universally revered Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, a superb orchestra that was led for decades by the CSO's current principal conductor, Bernard Haitink. Not surprisingly, the top ensembles of Berlin, Vienna, and London follow. and Chicago pops up at No. 5 on the overall chart.
- Perhaps the biggest winner in the pack, though, is the Concertgebouw's music director Mariss Jansons. The Latvian-Jewish conductor has two ensembles in The Gramophone's "Top 10" -- Munich's Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was rated No. 6 overall, just behind the CSO and just before the exceptional Cleveland Orchestra.
The high ranking for the Dresden Staatskapelle (No. 10) seems reasonable after their outstanding showing at Orchestra Hall on Sunday. The Los Angeles Philharmonic at No. 8, three places above the far superior Boston Symphony Orchestra, seems a stretch, although well-traveled Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed was on the Gramophone jury, along with The New Yorker magazine super-critic Alex Ross. A top 10 spot for the spunky Budapest Festival Orchestra is another oddity. Former CSO music director Daniel Barenboim's Berlin Staatskapelle is nowhere to be seen.
"As everyone should know," Rutter continued in an e-mail, "on any given evening anywhere and everywhere in the world there are 'best concerts' taking place by many great orchestras. Music is always a subjective experience, and that's why there isn't and can't be a 'World Series' in our world to firmly, regularly rank orchestras.
"All that said," Rutter concluded, "in any case, it is wonderful to have international recognition of our truly superb and peerless orchestra."
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