The Greatest Orchestras

On medici.tv, take a journey through the history of art and music by streaming and listening to the world's best orchestras! 

Before discussing the "best orchestras in the world", let's start with the following question: what is an orchestra? An orchestra is a group of musicians gathered to perform a piece, with the number and distribution of instruments varying based on the type of music being played: symphonic music, opera or ballet scores, accompanying soloists, and so on. The number of musicians and the sections of an orchestra, including those of the best orchestras in the world, haven't always been precisely codified and have evolved significantly over different periods and eras! The first orchestra with an exact composition was born...in Italy! This was the orchestra for the premiere of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, considered one of the first operas in history. The ensemble, consisting of around thirty instruments, was colorful but heterogeneous. Subsequently, Italian orchestras primarily limited themselves to string instruments, with a few added wind instruments. The following century witnessed the birth of the ancestors of the best orchestras of our time. The evolution wasn't in the number of instruments but in their distribution. Wind instruments began taking up more space in the Romantic orchestra compared to string instruments. Additionally, new wind instruments were invented to suit the needs of composers and orchestras. Wagner, for example, commissioned a new instrument, the Wagner tuba, created for his Ring Cycle of operas. In the 19th century, numerous orchestras were established, some of which remain among the world's best orchestras to this day! These include the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and in France, the Orchestra of the Conservatoire's Concert Society, now the Orchestre de Paris, the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, and many more. Some of these ensembles still rank amongst the world's best orchestras! In the 20th century, the orchestra's composition was approached differently, prompted by Debussy's desire to make each section more distinct. In the 21st century, a new aesthetic has emerged: the orchestra's composition is no longer fixed and is tailored to adapt to each interpreted work. Throughout history, the best orchestras have accompanied the premieres of illustrious works on the stages of prestigious venues. Generally, the creation of great works is associated with an orchestra: the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra during the premiere of Rossini's Il turco in Italia, Verdi's Nabucco, and many of Donizetti's operas, for instance. Since the inception of the first orchestra, numerous ensembles have been formed in various cities, both French and European, hosted in diverse venues, buildings, and theaters of all kinds. All these orchestras have accompanied the most distinguished artists in their successes and setbacks. The world's best orchestras have even recorded albums, either "solo" or with renowned soloists performing beautiful opera arias! Think of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, which, under the legendary Herbert von Karajan's pioneering direction, recorded numerous operas and symphonic works, or the Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris, which accompanied the great Maria Callas on her album Carmen in 1964. Don't wait any longer: listen to the world's best orchestras streaming on medici.tv, the finest platform for classical music streaming!

medici.tv, your front-row seat to stream the world's best orchestras

medici.tv stands as the world's foremost platform for classical music streaming. Within our expansive catalog of over 4,000 pages of video-on-demand (VOD) content, the most extensive in the realm of classical music, you'll find over 1,400 concerts, more than 300 operas, and over 150 ballets performed by the world's top symphony orchestras, available to you in HD, wherever and whenever you desire. Discover the best orchestras globally in live concerts, replays, or VOD, featuring exhilarating programs on the stages of illustrious venues, accompanied by genius soloists from both today and the past. Our catalog is brimming with rare archives and captivating documentaries about the history of classical music. A selection of memorable concerts awaits you! Some of our content is accessible for free, and subscribing grants you full access to our catalog, which includes performances by the world's best orchestras. Concerts, operas, and ballets crafted by the greatest composers, from Mozart (creator of the famous operas Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro) to Puccini, Donizetti, Rossini, Wagner – our catalog is filled with treasures! Subscribing to medici.tv means securing a front-row seat to witness the concerts of the world's best orchestras, wherever and whenever you want, on all of your screens. Our content is available in live, replay, and VOD formats, accessible from your phone through our website or iOS app, as well as on larger screens through AirPlay, Chromecast, and now Roku! And with our live HD broadcasts, you'll have ample opportunity to observe the techniques of the artists from the finest symphony orchestras. So, don’t wait any longer and join us on medici.tv, the best classical music streaming platform!