Considering its more than a century long history, it comes as a surprise that the Vienna Symphony has never before recorded a full cycle of the nine symphonies by Beethoven. This shortcoming is about to be remedied: the orchestra is releasing the complete symphonies on five albums. With a new release to be issued every six months, the cycle will be completed just in time for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven in 2020. The symphonies were recorded live during a critically acclaimed concert cycle in Spring/Summer 2017 in the Great Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna.