I tentatively support this idea, but echo the comments of others that more useful search filters would greatly aid the discoverability of themes appropriate for certain projects.

Perhaps the review team could not just judge themes pass/fail but give marks for code quality, adaptability, and upsell costs. Those could be search facets for people looking for a new theme, in addition to recent updates, ratings, etc., as mentioned by Álvaro above.

There would not have to be just one curated list, either, because your choice of theme will vary depending on the project. There could be lists of themes chosen by the review team for speed, code quality, adaptability, aesthetics, etc. This might also help add some transparency to the process, so people would know more about who chose the themes on this list and why.