Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year Award is the only Gramophone Classical Music Award decided by public vote (vote here). The 10 orchestras nominated this year are:

BBC Philharmonic (UK), Berliner Philharmoniker (Germany), Chicago Symphony Orchestra (USA), Le Concert des Nations (Spain), Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Denmark), Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (Germany), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Finland), London Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), Orchestre de Paris (France), National Symphony Orchestra (USA)

This week, we focus on ...

Orchestre de Paris (France)

Last year, Klaus Mäkelä’s Norwegian ensemble featured among our ten nominees (prompted by their impressive Sibelius symphony cycle). This year it’s his French group, the Orchestre de Paris. Go to any of their concerts at the acoustically ravishing Philharmonie de Paris and you’ll be amazed at the warmth of the Parisian audience towards their Finnish maestro. And the orchestra clearly adore him too, because they play with real passion, and buckets of character too. This year saw their first Decca release together, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and The Firebird ballet, music towards which the Paris players feel a direct ownership (‘Just gorgeous playing throughout,’ wrote ES). Another impressive partnership worth celebrating.

Vote for the Orchestre de Paris

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Vote for Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year 2023: