This recording is part of Leonard Bernstein's complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra live in Vienna. The series won the Ace Award, the U.S. Cable TV Association's top award for outstanding quality and entertainment value. Bernstein's impassioned renderings of Beethoven move audiences in a unique way. "Beethoven has always meant universality to me, ever since my early adolescence, when I first heard that unforgettable cry of 'Brüder!'. From that moment on, every symphony came to mean heart-to-heart communication, travelling satellite-fashion via the cosmos itself. I offer this cycle to all music-loving ears as a testament of faith and of my most profound reactions to this greatest of all composers." (Leonard Bernstein)