Beethoven's new best friends

Norman Lebrecht reports on a survey by the German Orchestral Association, which identified "561 professional orchestras in the world, working 31 weeks a year with enough players for a Beethoven Fifth." Of those, 133 were in Germany, 50 in the United States. Ranking third, with 43 ensembles currently performing and six more being organized, was China:

http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/081112-NL-power.html