Today, critics consider it a world-class ensemble, with a rebuilt subscriber base, a new concert hall and a series of tours, recordings and radio broadcasts.

The Orchestre de Paris was formed in 1967 with support from the French state and the city of Paris, the intention being to create a world-class ensemble.

Surely, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra and other world-class ensembles will be accommodated.

American Ballet Theater is not a company like most other world-class ensembles, in the sense that it can boast a centuries-old tradition renewed from within, by graduates of its own school.

What Mr. Vanska does on the podium, though, is extraordinary, and on Saturday evening he made Mostly Mozart's resident freelance band sound like a world-class ensemble.

"Lincoln Center is willing to apply the financial resources to make the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra a world-class ensemble," she said.

His success in transforming the Met orchestra into a world-class ensemble, documented last week in these pages by Will Crutchfield, will weigh heavily on the scales.

A live performance taped at the Teatro Regio di Torino that is alive indeed, smartly paced by Bruno Campanella and enhanced by a world-class ensemble.

The Shanghai simply does not sound like a world-class ensemble.

Although the chorus seems on its way to being a world-class ensemble, it will take time before the orchestra can compete on an international level.