The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks has already performed several Beethoven symphony cycles. Chief conductor Mariss Jansons has now extended the cycle concept in two respects: with works specially commissioned from contemporary composers, who have contributed their own musical reflections on Beethoven symphonies, and by presenting these outstanding concert events on the record market as a series of live recordings.

The live recordings of Symphonies Nos 7 and 8 were made in 2012 in Tokyo's Suntory Hall, with its spectacularly good acoustics, and were exceptionally well received by the public and the trade press. The Music Pen Club of Japan praised Mariss Jansons shortly after the tour for his "new, modern and transparent-sounding Beethoven".

The symphonies are complemented by the work 'Con Brio', a modern contribution by Jörg Widmann (born 1973), one of the most important representatives of a younger generation of composers.