I'm not typically a fan of lists, but Gramophone's newly-released list of the Top 20 orchestras is the world is worth a gander, if only for pure amusement. The top four aren't much of a surprise (nor is #12), but Budapest ahead of Dresden or Leipzig? What about Paris? And, honestly, that #18 orchestra should be way higher. (For the record, I haven't heard either #14 or #19. Yet.)
TOP 20 ORCHESTRAS
1. Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam
2. Berlin Philharmonic
3. Vienna Philharmonic
4. London Symphony Orchestra
5. Chicago Symphony Orchestra
6. Bavarian Radio Symphony
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 Theatre Orchestra
15. Russian National Orchestra
16. Saint Petersburg Philharmonic
17. Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
18. Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
19. Saito Kinen Symphony Orchestra
20. Czech Philharmonic
