Meaning full, big-sound symphony orchestras. Chamber orchestras, those smaller and more nimble ensembles that tend to number up to about 40 musicians compared to their big siblings\u2019 hundred-plus, rarely get a look in. Even the best of them.<\/p>\n
And, as a conductor who has spent much of his career standing in front of the world\u2019s leading chamber orchestras, I can say with certainty that the best of them are the best of the best.<\/p>\n
![\""Conductor\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/24\/2023\/05\/09d531cd-0880-48bb-b4b2-3ba686598761-5d8452d.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C349"\" "\\"\"Conductor\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Let\u2019s start with why chamber orchestras don\u2019t get their due. Promoters, often the media and concert-goers as well, have the mindset that size matters (and even the music colleges don\u2019t prioritise chamber orchestras). What is the most popular repertoire? Huge symphonies by Mahler<\/strong><\/a> and Shostakovich<\/strong><\/a>. Beethoven<\/strong><\/a> played with a big sound. Everything is pushed as \u2018epic\u2019 or \u2018spectacular\u2019.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not surprising, if you consider what\u2019s happened in the history of music. As cities built large halls and threw resources at them, composers had free rein. In Europe, for instance, there were the spa towns that demanded cultural activities for their leisure clientele \u2013 like Baden-Baden in Austria, which invited Berlioz<\/strong><\/a> to run its music festival and encouraged him to write big pieces for big concerts, no expense spared.<\/p>\n And what Berlioz and a few others got, all the composers started to demand. Fast forward to the late twentieth century and up to today, and we\u2019ve had decades of film composers like John Williams<\/strong><\/a> and Hans Zimmer<\/strong><\/a>, themselves influenced by the enormous musical palettes of Mahler, Bruckner<\/strong><\/a> and Prokofiev<\/strong><\/a>. And so audiences and promoters alike are trained to expect that bigger is better.<\/p>\n But it was not always this way. Brahms<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s orchestra was small, with only eight or ten first violins! Mozart<\/strong><\/a>, Mendelssohn<\/strong><\/a>, Schumann<\/strong><\/a>, so many great composers wrote for these compact groups.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not saying that symphony orchestras aren\u2019t vital, and I conduct many of them and love doing so. And there are things you can achieve with more musicians in terms of texture, colour and scope that are important. But.<\/p>\n