Your favourite ensemble/orchestra/group etc

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Well the OP heading does imply singular, so it has to be the Vienna Philharmonic. I have more recordings of theirs than of any other ensemble.

Indeed - but the OP itself refers to (and names) "groups" in the plural.

I had difficulty getting my list as "short" as it is, and I've since thought of four more that could be added! I don't think I can filter it down to one.

[vinteuil]

The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.

but also -

Anima Eterna
les Musiciens du Louvre
Cristofori
Pygmalion
les Talens Lyriques
the Eroica Quartet
Quatuor Mosaiques
London Haydn Quartet
la Petite Bande

We have been lucky to have lived at a time of such riches.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

We have been lucky to have lived at a time of such riches.

(Part of my means of keeping my list as short as possible was by limiting myself to ensembles I've heard Live, so - to my very deep regret - I cannot add any from your splendid selection, all of whom frequently grace my CD player to the benefit of my health and well-being.)

[Richard Barrett]

I'm glad EA drew attention to the singular implication of the OP because otherwise I'd never get to the end of my list, even if I restricted it to ensembles or orchestras that play contemporary compositions, or improvising groups, or early or baroque music ensembles, or classical symphony orchestras, just thinking about it makes one realise how much beautiful music making is going on in our time, although I would also have mentioned groups whose work is very important to me, like the Concentus Musicus or Nuova Consonanza, which don't exist any more.

Having said all that my obvious choice is the Elision ensemble, for very many reasons, and I believe I would probably say this even if they weren't my friends!

[vinteuil]

We have been lucky to have lived at a time of such riches.

... to which of course I shd have added

Phantasm
Fretwork
Trio Wanderer
Voces Intimae

but as ferneyhiccough and Richd: B intimate, once you start you can't stop.

I can't emulate (tho' I admire) ferney's self-imposed restriction to groups heard live.

Much of my working life was as a cultural bureaucrat of some sort or other, sometimes requiring attendance at six or seven performances a week; sadly I have as a result had a sort of burn-out in the enjoyment of attending live events, and in retirement much prefer staying at home whenever possible...

[ahinton]

Quatour Diotima

Quatuor (a pedant writes - one who has indeed misspelt it exactly the same way on several occasions!)...

But quelle ensemble! There are several other quartets today that venture into challenging contemporary and near-contemporary repertoire as the Arditti Quartet has made a name for itself in doing over more than four decades but which also regularly perform "standard repertoire" quartets which the Arditti Quartet has almost never done - the Pacifica and Danel are perhaps the best known for this - but Diotima are, I think, the only ensemble who play Ferneyhough as well as much earlier repertoire - and boy are they good! If you've not already done so, do get their latest 5-CD boxed set of the complete completed quartet works of Schönberg, Berg and Webern (an extract from Schönberg's wondrous D minor Quartet plays on the opening page of the quartet's troublesome to navigate website). In a world replete with excellent string quartets, Diotima really do have an edge and a half. I once actually heard them perform the Sixth Quartet by David M... - although it did end inevitably up sounding somewhat tame once they'd completed their programme with the most searingly intense and fabulously moving account of the C# minor Quartet the name of whose composer it is obviously unnecessary to mention...

[Beef Oven!]

Well the OP heading does imply singular, so it has to be the Vienna Philharmonic. I have more recordings of theirs than of any other ensemble.

Indulge yourself, don’t be such a stickler!

Surely there’s a chamber orchestra or a string quartet that floats your boat (not the one one your lawn).

[jayne lee wilson]

I listen to many less frequently recorded orchestras (Lithuania, Bern, Basle...) so I didn't imagine I would have a favourite, but - then I remembered how much the German Radio Orchestras have meant to me for so long, especially the Berlin Radio SO (currently investigating Rogner's Bruckner with them), and the SWR Orchestras of Baden-Baden & Freiburg, and Stuttgart, for marvellously wide-ranging & contemporary rep - how sad they had to be amalgamated, but at least they're still around.... RSO Saarbrücken, especially with Hans Zender, would be another group I've spent many happy hours with, formerly on R3 and latterly on disc.....

Apart from them the great French orchestras come to mind - O. de Paris, Lamoureux, French National etc... for their Honegger, Roussel, Dutilleux....
And a soft spot for the Vienna Symphony of the 50s (Scherchen, Andreae, etc.)...
Finally Franz Bruggen's favoured bands, the O.18th C. and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.... whose various Beethoven Haydn and Rameau recordings have been frequent honoured and beloved guests in this listening room...

[Alison]

Another vote for the London Philharmonic from me. It was the orchestra I grew up with in the eighties and nineties.

I am so grateful to dad for taking me along From a very young age.

I'll chuck into the mix the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for their style and substance.

The first time I heard the Jerusalem Quartet play Haydn was a revelation. Marvellously natural music making.

[alycidon]

Orchestra of the Enlightenment

The Hagen Quartet

[teamsaint]

I like the Atrium Quartet a lot.

To a considerable extent, it must be said, because one of them went to a bit of trouble to send me file of an otherwise unavailable ( out of stock) recording of theirs.

of course, they play like a dream too.......

otherwise, of those I have heard over the last few years, the LPO are currently quite brilliant.

[teamsaint]

Another vote for the London Philharmonic from me. It was the orchestra I grew up with in the eighties and nineties.

I am so grateful to dad for taking me along From a very young age.

I'll chuck into the mix the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for their style and substance.

The first time I heard the Jerusalem Quartet play Haydn was a revelation. Marvellously natural music making.

by way of poorly researched support, I never seem to hear a bad recording by the SCO.

[Richard Barrett]

the SWR Orchestras of Baden-Baden & Freiburg, and Stuttgart, for marvellously wide-ranging & contemporary rep

I can only agree Their counterparts in Munich have already been mentioned, but not yet I think the excellent radio orchestra of Cologne.

[richardfinegold]

I was going to put them down as my fifth nomination, Richard, but time was pressing. Absolutely agree. I certainly hear a lot of them judging from my 'What are you listening to now?' thread contributions. I first saw them playing Mahler 1 with Kubelik in 1980 and am currently going through the new Eugen Jochum box which includes many recordings in its earlier days.

I have a Mahler 1 with Kubelik and the BRSO from 1979, a live recording on the Audite label, that you would no doubt find interesting. I much prefer it to Kubelik's M1 from his 60s cycle. The Orchestra already possesses that burnished sonority that we hear today. Their recent Mahler 9 release with Haitink is just superb, as is their Bruckner 5 with BH. And their recent Beethoven cycle with Jansons is very good

[richardfinegold]

I see Beef O doesn't know much about the Beaux Arts Trio. They had a long career with some personnel changes, but the one constant was their Pianist, Menahem Pressler, who I just saw a few months ago in recital, 92 years young. It was a superb evening of Haydn, Schubert, Mozart and Debussy, with a Chopin Mazurka for an encore. Pressler flubbed a chord at the end of the Mazurka--I think the only slip of the night--and cursed loudly. The little vulgarity was at such odds with the refinement of what had preceded that we all laughed and Pressler started giggling. I hope that he lives forever.
My favorite B.A. Lineup was Pressler, Isidore Cohen, and Bernard Greenhouse, Cello. Try their Dvorak and Schubert
Trios, but their Haydn Trios were really special, filled with wit, sparkle, and wonderful playing