Performer: Riccardo Muti

Esteban Batallán, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's top trumpet, plays piccolo trumpet concertos by Telemann and Michael Haydn with the home team, under former CSO music director Riccardo Muti.

All the hallmarks of a Muti performance are on display as the maestro returns to conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra in a magnificent reading of Verdi's Requiem. 

The Vienna Philharmonic’s strings prove vivid and intense in works by Catalani, Stravinsky and Schubert, conducted by Riccardo Muti. 

Bachtrack polled 15 of the world's leading music critics and can reveal their 2023 list of the world's greatest orchestras and conductors. 

The Italian maestro, who recently stepped down as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director, talks about learning from orchestras, future plans – and his frustrations with the world of opera. 

Which are the greatest orchestras and conductors according to the professional critics? Bachtrack presents the top ten orchestras in the world.