Robert Schumann once said that “when a German speaks of symphonies, he is speaking of Beethoven”. With his nine symphonies, Beethoven set a standard against which subsequent composers measured themselves. After piano and chamber music, he also conquered the world of the symphony during his Viennese years with his first work in C major op. 21.

In subsequent years, this First Symphony became very popular. Only with the emergence of a Romantic view of Beethoven did it move into the background. T...