Gergiev and San Francisco Symphony top busiest conductor and orchestra list

7 January 2014, 10:19

The annual stats for classical concerts across the world have been released by classical events finder website Bachtrack, with Valery Gergiev coming out on top as the world's busiest conductor.

The Russian conductor and director of the Mariinsky Theatre came out on top with 99 listed performances in 2013. Last year's busiest conductor, the New York Philharmonic's Alan Gilbert, has slipped down to fourth position.

Other big figures in the top 10 are Sir Simon Rattle at no. 6 (the busiest British conductor on the list), Andris Nelsons at no. 2 and Fabio Luisi rounding out the top 3.

Notably, the only female conductor to feature in the top 100 busiest conductors this year was the Sao Paulo State Symphony's Marin Alsop.

As for the busiest orchestras of 2013, the New York Philharmonic has lost the 2012 top spot to the San Francisco Symphony, who stormed through 146 listed concerts. The highest-placing British orchestra was Classic FM's very own Orchestra in the South West, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, with 99 listed concerts.

The survey also digs into which composers were most performed in 2013, with a predictable top 3 of Mozart, Beethoven and Bach. However, coming in at no. 4 was Benjamin Britten, doubtless as a result of renewed interest in the composer's centenary celebrations. Britten was also the most performed composer in the UK.

The most performed individual work of 2013 was Handel's Messiah, which has consistently topped the list since the survey's inception.

You can view the whole infographic of the survey here.