Is someone who plays in a chamber orchestra more skilled than a person who plays in a philharmonic orchestra?

Answer 1

Answer 1Chamber Vs Philarmomic orchestraEffectivly, they may well be, seeing as a chamber orchestra is much smaller and they are pretty much on their own with their instrument, but you could also say the same the other way around, that they are more skilled to be able to perform in a group. Answer 2

A philharmonic orchestra is a 'full-sized' orchestra. Today the orchestra generally comprises over 100 musicians , whereas a chamber orchestra might have only 30 or 40 musicians.

It is not so much picked for skill, but chamber orchestras mainly play works of a smaller scale than the full symphonic works of the later musical periods.

Back in Mozart's day, for instance, orchestras comprised fairly basic strings, woodwind and brass - as an example, and there may have only been 20 or 30 musicians in the orchestra.

The music was composed accordingly.

So, some pieces suit a more modest, chamber orchestra, while others work better with a full sized symphony orchestras of today. Those who perform them will generally be better suited to that style of music.

So, in essence, chamber musicians may not be any "better" musicians - this is especially given that full-sized orchestras in many countries can only be afforded by state support, and therefore, there be few in number [in some countries only one per state] as against the possible number of chamber groups around.