What do you think of the Berlin Philharmonic? What’s your favourite orchestra?
Do think they’re the best orchestra in the world? Why or why not?
What’s your favourite orchestra? What’s so good about them?
I’m very interested 
The Berlin Phil is certainly one of the best orchestras in the world, no doubt about that. Which orchestra is THE best, however, can only be a matter of opinion as there are no concrete criteria by which to measure these things. A professional poll a couple of years published in the UK magazine ‘The Gramophone’ placed Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra at the top of a list of the world’s best orchestras – a judgement many would agree with, but some would not. Some cite the Vienna Philharmonic as the best orchestra. No doubt, our friends in the USA would claim Chicago, Cleveland, Boston or New York to have the ‘best’ orchestra.
Among my favourites is the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra – one of the few orchestras still to have a very distinctive sound (I am no fan of homogeneity of sound between the world’s orchestras).
Just for your interest, here is the ‘Top 20′ list from ‘The Gramophone’. See if YOU agree with it (I don’t).
1 Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam
2 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
3 Vienna Philhramonic Orchestra
4 London Symphony Orchestra
5 Chicago Symphony Orchestra
6 Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich
7 Cleveland Orchestra
8 Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
9 Budapest Festival Orchestra
10 Boston Symphony Orchestra
11 New York Philharmonic Orchestra
12 San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
13 Maryinsky Theatre Orchestra
14 Dresden Staatskapelle
15 Russian National Orchestra
16 St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
17 Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
18 Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
19 Saito Kinen Orchestra, Tokyo
20 Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague
You and I Scorpions & The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra