The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks has already performed several Beethoven symphony cycles. Chief conductor Mariss Jansons has now extended the cycle concept in several regards, with performances of the works in Tokyo's Suntory Hall with its excellent acoustics, with specially assigned commissions from contemporary composers who were asked to contribute their own musical reflections on Beethoven's symphonies, and also with the publication of live recordings of these outstanding concert events on the music market. 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 Seventh and Eighth 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.