This 3-CD collection presents the collaboration between Kurt Masur and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in three of their unique Beethoven performances from the 1980s. The centrepiece is the recording of the Ninth Symphony, made on the occasion of the opening concert of the new Gewandhaus in Leipzig on 8 October 1981. It is largely thanks to the efforts of Kurt Masur, conductor of the orchestra from 1970 onwards, that a new, ‘third’ Gewandhaus was built on Augustusplatz in the city centre after the Second World War. The opening concert of the new Gewandhaus on 8 October 1981 therefore marked the beginning of a new era for the orchestra under its then principal conductor. The CD collection also includes recordings of the Mass in D major, op.123 ‘Missa solemnis’ and the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, op.61.