Orchestras in ‘pitched’ battle
This April, Limelight Magazine has published a ranking of Australia’s orchestras. “Australia’s six major orchestras are frequently described as “world class”, but how do they fare in their own backyard? We pit the state orchestras against each other in a blind-listening test to see which band would emerge king of the concert hall.” Limelight Magazine.
Coincidentally or not, the April issue of Gramophone Magazine carries a feature by conductor Mark Wigglesworth, who has conducted Peter Grimes and Don Giovanni for Opera Australia, proposing that such rankings are subjective at best and potentially detrimental. He says “Artistic competition is an idle sport and a fascination with subjective hierarchies is perhaps one of human nature’s less interesting characteristics.”
Read his views in Gramophone Magazine
