Well, it's that time of year again when Gramophone Magazine releases its top 20 list of orchestras.
And as is the norm with this British-based mag the rankings skews to the Euro side -- with only 7 of the 20 on the list U.S. orchestras.
Which goes to show that lists are all in the eye of the beholder.
And as opinions eyes go, perhaps Europeans think what happens on their continent is better than what happens in the Americas?
How else to explain how great orchestras like the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony and the Boston Symphony orchestras missed making the top 10?
The Top 10
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
... and the Next 10
11) Boston Symphony Orchestra
12) New York Philharmonic
13) San Francisco Symphony
14) Mariinsky Theater Orchestra
15) Russian National Orchestra
16) Leningrad Philharmonic
17) Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
18) Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
19) Saito Kinen Orchestra
20) Czech Philharmonic








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