How we rate

Kulturperle regularly reads the schedules of theatres, opera houses, concert halls and independent venues and then searches the web for reviews of each production.

Where ratings come from

• Press and critics (50 %): newspapers, broadcasters, specialist magazines.
• Culture blogs (20 %): independent writers with expertise.
• Audience (30 %): public audience voices.

An AI model reads each review and estimates its verdict on a scale from 0 to 5, together with how clear that verdict is. Unclear verdicts count less. We quote at most two sentences and always link to the full review.

Fair with few reviews

A single rave review should not produce a perfect 5.0. That is why productions with few reviews are pulled towards an expected value of 3.6 until more voices come in.

Hidden gems

The hidden gem factor rises when a production is rated very well but the venue is small and has received little national media coverage.

Artists and ensembles

Directors, conductors, orchestras and ensembles get an average across all productions they worked on, weighted by their role. Explicit praise or criticism in reviews counts extra.

Always up to date

New reviews are picked up continuously: often around the premiere, weekly afterwards, until a few weeks after the last performance. Every new review updates the rating.