Limelight magazine have done a blind test of Australian orchestras. Fifteen critics and musicians were sent unlabelled recordings of performances during 2012 and the results were both predictable and surprising.

Sydney Symphony Orchestra came in first, which was as it should be.
Second place went to Adelaide, which is surprising but pleasing as the orchestra is brave in its programming and deserves more recognition than it gets.
Queensland Symphony came next which means they must have improved since I heard them last, although that was years ago.
The shock was Melbourne Symphony Orchestra coming in at fourth place – this will put noses out of joint! According to judges it was ‘consistently placed in the bottom half of the ranking’.
Sadly WASO came second last; it seems that being the richest orchestra doesn’t make it the greatest!
Tasmania trailed in last position.

The online article with more details is here:
http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Article/337030,who-is-australia8217s-best-orchestra.aspx?eid=35&edate=20130321&utm_source=20130321&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=weekly_newsletter

What do you think, is this how you would rank Australia’s orchestras?