# Your favourite orchestras for the (major) symphonists?



## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

Composers who wrote symphonies like Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart etc have been played countless times by the world’s greatest and also not so greatest orchestras. I was wondering which orchestra is your go-to or favourite for the many major symphonists of the past 300 years. So an example of a list would be

Dvôrak: Czech philharmonic orchestra
Beethoven: Chicago symphony orchestra
Brahms: Berlin philharmonic orchestra
Mahler: Royal Concertgebouw orchestra
Bruckner: Vienna philharmonic orchestra
Sibelius: Helsinki philharmonic orchestra
Mozart: Acadamy of St. Martin in the Fields

Feel free to share your list and you can of course add composers to the list of the examples shown above


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

Vaughan Williams: London Philharmonic Orchestra


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## Lisztianwagner (2 mo ago)

Beethoven: Berliner Philharmoniker
Mahler: Wiener Philharmoniker
Bruckner: Berliner Philharmoniker 
Brahms: Berliner Philbarmoniker
Tchaikovsky: Berliner Philharmoniker
Vaughan Williams: London Philharmonic
Sibelius: Philharmonia Orchestra
Rachmaninov: Concertgebouw Orchestra


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I have problem with your premise: the character of orchestras changes over time. One only has to listen to recordings of Philadelphia under Ormandy from 60 years ago and compare to newer recordings from people like Sawallisch and YNS and the differences are clear. Chicago's brass section is no longer the "Mack Truck" it was with Solti. While your list has very fine recordings for the composers listed with a great orchestra, can that same magic be caught again? Would the Berlin sound the same in Beethoven today be your first choice? And did you base that on Karajan or Cluytens? If the former, which of his numerous sets is the standard for sound, because they're all different. 

I can't say I've ever bought something just because of the orchestra involved. One exception was Maazel's Mahler set with Vienna that I bought for obvious sentimental reasons. Did the VPO bring something special that other orchestras lacked? Not at all. In fact, the VPO was never known as a Mahler orchestra. New York was a real Mahler orchestra. Tchaikovsky with Berlin and Karajan was very good and it will be interesting to see how they change and develop under Petrenko. But Petrenko's sound is a long ways from Karajan.


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## PeterKC (Dec 30, 2016)

LSO/LPO under Boult
Montreal under Dutoit
Chicago under Reiner or Abbado
BSO under Munch or Monteux or Leinsdorf
Pittsburgh under Steinberg
Tonnhalle under Zinnman
Concertgebouw under Haitink or Jansons
NYPO under Bernstein
Any orchestra under Kleiber
Minnesota under Dorati
Colombia under Walter
Cleveland under Szell
Philadelphia under Ormandy or Dutoit
BRSO under Jansons

Guess I've pegged myself.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

PeterKC said:


> LSO/LPO under Boult
> Montreal under Dutoit
> Chicago under Reiner or Abbado
> BSO under Munch or Monteux or Leinsdorf
> ...


You're old? No...experienced!!! I have one problem with your list: the Columbia SO under Walter. There was no CSO, really. It was a pickup group of players from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Hollywood studio musicians. The personnel changed all the time. And then the CSO in California was not the same CSO as in New York. That Beethoven 9th: the first three movements were recorded in Hollywood. The finale in New York. And I'm glad to see someone else besides me likes the Dutoit work in Philly! Hurwitz is way wrong on those recordings.


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## PeterKC (Dec 30, 2016)

I almost hesitated to post Dutoit for fear of being called a misogynist. Thanks for the correction on Walter. Guess I am a bit old. Don't feel it though.

Btw. One of my favorite newer spirits is the Orquestra Sinfonica de Galica under Dima Slobodeniouk. Many fascinating performances on YouTube. Plus, now I want to go visit La Coruna, The City of Glass. We also have a fine orchestra here in Kansas City, under Michael Stern. They've done some good recordings on Reference Records


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Impossible to answer. Orchestras have changed over the years so much that listing Berliner Ph (or any other) is meaningless. Which Berlner? Under Karajan? Abbado? Rattle? Someone else? Also, I don't have a single orchestra for any of the major symphonies. Let's take Beethoven as an example. My favourite Eroica is performed by the Pittsburgh SO under Honeck but is PSO my go-to for Beethoven? No. There are some wonderful Beethoven symphonies performed by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony that beat most of the Karajan Berliner recordings.


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## RandallPeterListens (Feb 9, 2012)

For the Bruckner symphonies, I have always liked the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Eugen Jochum. I feel he had the tempi just about right. But then again, I like my Bruckner rather slow and magisterial. Bernard Haitink with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra runs a close second.

For years, I always thought the Beethoven symphonies performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert Von Karajan was the gold standard. However, as I grow older, I tend to find his fortes a bit too abrupt and pounding.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

For Bruckner, i need the big brass, woodwind string sound -
ChicagoSO and Leningrad [Mravinsky) are my favorites - unparalleled in the brass...huge dynamic range, stunningly full, shattering fortissimos...climaxes that are literally foundation shaking...
ViennaPO is really great too....a smaller concept of sound, perhaps, but they do it so well...like CSO and LenPO, the VPO sections are beautifully matched for tone, articulation, dynamics....you don't hear errant inner voices blatting forth out of balance...no uneven tones in the sections...
When listening to lesser skilled orchesrras, these shortcomings pop out pretty obviously...

There's a reason that smaller regional and community orchestras don't often perform Bruckner....getting that necessary unanimity within and between sections is really difficult...you need fine players to start with, and then considerable rehearsal/performance time to develop that common sound...


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

Heck148 said:


> For Bruckner, i need the big brass, woodwind string sound -
> ChicagoSO and Leningrad [Mravinsky) are my favorites - unparalleled in the brass...huge dynamic range, stunningly full, shattering fortissimos...climaxes that are literally foundation shaking...
> ViennaPO is really great too....a smaller concept of sound, perhaps, but they do it so well...like CSO and LenPO, the VPO sections are beautifully matched for tone, articulation, dynamics....you don't hear errant inner voices blatting forth out of balance...no uneven tones in the sections...
> When listening to lesser skilled orchesrras, these shortcomings pop out pretty obviously...
> ...


For Bruckner 9 I imprinted on Giulini/VPO and listening now to Giulini/CSO. VPO sound definitely doesn’t sound smaller to my ears. But of course I haven’t heard enough to really compare and Giulini/VPO Bruckner 9 is considered one of the best recordings, if not the best, of that work so of course it will have outstanding orchestral playing


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

EvaBaron said:


> For Bruckner 9 I imprinted on Giulini/VPO and listening now to Giulini/CSO. VPO sound definitely doesn’t sound smaller to my ears. But of course I haven’t heard enough to really compare and Giulini/VPO Bruckner 9 is considered one of the best recordings, if not the best, of that work so of course it will have outstanding orchestral playing


VPO sounds great in Bruckner...the brass plays with wonderful section unity...I don't mean "smaller" in a derogatory way...it is a different concept from Chicago or Leningrad, who can crank out unbelievable volumes of sound...it has nothing to do with playback volume...it is about tone quality, concept and production.
EMI did a fabulous job recording the Giulini/CSO...
B9 is a real powerhouse recording...wonderful flow...which Mravinsky and Solti achieve also


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