# Your All Time Favorite Classical Music Cover?



## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

This can be an LP, CD or any other category. Was there one cover (maybe a few) that you always remember, from the moment you saw it it reached out and grabbed you, perhaps you even think of it from time to time?


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

The Melodiya, Chandos, CPO, and Hyperion covers are those I find myself cherishing over the years (the Melodiya ones are as realism as the music typically is). For instance,

V. Polenov "After the Rain"










Then, there's Chandos (as autumnal and wistful as Myaskovsky's music)










And CPO (Artist: Harald Sohlberg "Sommernacht am Oslo-Fjord")










And more CPO (Artist: Harald Sohlberg "Impression von der Sturm")










And then, the Hyperion (Artist: Henri Rousseau "Tiger in a Tropical Storm")


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Nothing jumps out as an obvious favorite, but I really like this classic Reiner/Bartok RCA Living Stereo.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I love the LP cover of Colin Davis conducting Berlioz' 'Harold in Italy" with Yehudi Menuhin on viola. It is too tedious to post from a smart phone, so I recommend googling it! Great performance of one of my all time favorite pieces


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

My favorite covers tend to be more simple or clean and precise.

This one, for Brahms' piano quartet in g minor and various solo piano works, is a typical nature shot, but something about the beautiful picture paired with a very basic label makes it stand out for me










This cover, for Faure's Requiem, is so minimal, it's striking










I bought this copy of Rachmaninov's 2nd for the cover alone, and the symphony sounded exactly as I would expect it to based off this cover










I don't own this copy of Mahler's 1st, but this is a Mahler cover I first saw years ago that has stuck with me. Simple, beautiful, captures the spirit of the music


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

Cosmos said:


> cover, for Faure's Requiem, is so minimal, it's striking...


Yes, that is a lovely cover.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

HAH! I'm glad this wasn't a thread about Classical _Covers_, as in, crossover covers of classical works...

Album covers that raise my blood pressure in a pleasant way just by staring at them (and the names on them):










(all the Serebrier CDs in this set anyway):


















There were some nice album covers for the Glazunov Naxos CDs too, and the very first CD I ever associated his music with was this:










I'm not sure how it makes me feel anymore though, now that I'm disillusioned with Naxos. That wasn't a terrible CD. In fact, I still like the renditions on that album compared to others I've heard. But still... the horrors of Naxos...


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## Richard8655 (Feb 19, 2016)

To me this was unique and interesting.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I've always liked the Prokofiev/Chandos covers. This is probably my favorite - modern, elegant, simple


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I just realized my album cover would probably want to date my avatar! :lol:


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

20centrfuge said:


> I just realized my album cover would probably want to date my avatar! :lol:


Just shows you're consistent in your taste.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

This elegant series of covers for Takemitsu chamber music is quite fine:


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

Mahlerian said:


> This elegant series of covers for Takemitsu chamber music is quite fine:


I like the one on the bottom the best. Very nice minimalist taste.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

This is probably my favourite cover which features a photograph - when I see it I feel like a privileged fly on the wall eavesdropping on some great music-making.










This is also a contender - Worcester cathedral with sunrise taken from the St. John's side of the river (the since-demolished nearby slum area of Dolday is conveniently out of shot heh heh).


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

I love the covers for Gardiner's _Bach Cantata Pilgrimage_, with breathtaking portraits by the photographer Steve McCurry. Every one is superb, but here's the cover of Volume 18, which I happen to be listening to now:









I appreciate well-composed "geometric" art, like this from Alan Curtis's recording of Handel's _Ezio_:









Simplicity is a favourite of mine, like this one:









And abstraction, in this case with a bit of physics thrown in:


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

I could probably spend a couple hours going through the shelves of CDs to pick out my favorite(s). So, instead, will just nominate a few of my favorite record covers:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Such a grace :tiphat:


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

This one:









I mentally transport myself inside this landscape when I look at it.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

This one must be one of the top contenders for me:


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

I assume that this is supposed to be limited to albums we already own. 
Some of my best looking ones:
















This one has a nice avant garde feel:









An old classic:









I am NOT trying to start a movie music debate but this cover is really nice. And it's a darn good soundtrack that orchestras should play more often. This is probably my favorite film score of all time:








I hope you'll forgive me if I seem overly patriotic...I'm certainly not trying to be a ******* or anything! I just like the cover. And the subject of the film inspired my forum signature if you didn't notice.


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

Gordontrek said:


> I assume that this is supposed to be limited to albums we already own.


Not at all. Just limited to the best covers you have seen.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

The first one to come to mind is this outrageous cover of Dennis Brain's brilliant recordings of Mozart's horn concertos:



Rather than a cover for a recording of Mozart it looks more like a poster for one of those great old monster/horror B-Movies:

*"The Brain That Ate New York!!!" *

The only other cover that comes to mind off hand is this BBC recording of Scriabin...










... which I admittedly picked up for the elegant nude on the cover (and the price). The recording was also quite good... so it was an all around win for me.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Oops! Just remembered another disc that I picked up for the cover:










This recording really turned me onto Faure... especially his songs. While I love Janet Baker, I find her voice a bit to heavy by this time for the ethereal elegance of Faure.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Mahlerian said:


> This elegant series of covers for Takemitsu chamber music is quite fine:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes... they remind me of the equally elegant covers from a series of recordings of Handel's Italian cantatas on Glossa:







(Great recordings as well!)


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> The first one to come to mind is this outrageous cover of Dennis Brain's brilliant recordings of Mozart's horn concertos:


........Hilarious! Poor Brain, a sure career ender!


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Here's another cover I quite like from a recording of _Cosi fan tutte_ sung in English that I picked up sometime last year.


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## BourbonBlues (Mar 5, 2016)

I'm quite new to building a classical collection, and as much as I love the music, I do wish the cover art was more interesting. So often the artwork is conservative to the point of being dull. Having said that, there's some very nice examples in this thread. In particular, the Bartok and Rachmanov covers on the first page are wonderful. There are some standouts on the second page, too - some look like jazz record covers! And that Faure is beautiful.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Yes... they remind me of the equally elegant covers from a series of recordings of Handel's Italian cantatas on Glossa


Glossa recordings have some great cover-art, like those for La Venexiana's set of Monteverdi madrigals:









(Each separate volume has individual covers based on the same "carved wood" theme. Beautiful)

Of these newer, smaller labels, ZigZag Territoires covers are pretty striking, too, and strikingly pretty:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Here's another cover I quite like from a recording of _Cosi fan tutte_ sung in English that I picked up sometime last year.


As well as the cover, wonderful and intelligent recording by the artists.


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## Vinski (Dec 16, 2012)

Wistful.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Vinski said:


> Wistful.


one of the coolest album covers I've seen!


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Pugg said:


> Such a grace :tiphat:


Looks like someone stuck her head on a digitally elongated body. Very sloppy.

I am a fan of Decca but this cover is nothing more than a Klimt pastiche.


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

This cover always puts a smile on my face.










More fun Westminster Gold Album covers.

http://www.kimbawlion.com/westminstergold/


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

Alfacharger said:


> This cover always puts a smile on my face.


No way, this was not a real cover.


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Klassic said:


> No way, this was not a real cover.


"The horror! The horror!"


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

Cosmos said:


> "The horror! The horror!"


Notice the dude is wearing something like a baby's bib, with a cut off sock with black stripes around his wrist?


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Klassic said:


> No way, this was not a real cover.


Afraid so - and by no means the wackiest - from the legendary "Westminster Gold" label. Take this one, for example:









You'll find a website devoted to Westminster by clicking this link


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

The first record I ever heard


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

I don't know why it seems that vast majority of classical album covers, even those with a beautiful painting has to be ruined by a ugly graphic project. Frames with weird colors, terrible fonts, text and horrible logos in wrong places. It seems that they want to make those albums attractive, but not so much. 
For some reason in pop music and jazz there's often much more care for those details.
Anyway, I quite like this one.


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## Bayreuth (Jan 20, 2015)

I think my profile picture says it all


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

ECM records have decent covers, even though they repeat their formula a bit too obviously for my tastes.
In small doses you can appreciate some very nice covers


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> Afraid so - and by no means the wackiest - from the legendary "Westminster Gold" label. Take this one, for example:
> 
> View attachment 82219
> 
> ...


This has always been my favourite.
How one can even conceive of this thing is beyond me.


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## Vinski (Dec 16, 2012)

Melancholic.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Bayreuth said:


> I think my profile picture says it all


The colour version is pretty snazzy, with that metallic look. I mocked this one up, because it was impossible to get the 10-tonne box set on my scanner!


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

Vinski said:


> Melancholic.


I like, I like!


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

This cover is one that grabbed my attention. The music is good, too.


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

What's not to like here:









But then again, Beethoven probably has more good covers than any other composer.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Stavrogin said:


> ECM records have decent covers, even though they repeat their formula a bit too obviously for my tastes.
> In small doses you can appreciate some very nice covers


ECM covers are an exercise in high quality minimalism.


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## chesapeake bay (Aug 3, 2015)

I'm not usually a fan of "in action" covers, but dang, Albrecht looks like he is _CONDUCTING_


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

True story:

As a kid I was so intimidated to reveal my love of classical music to my friends that I assumed the cover of pop music aficionado.

It got me through my teenage years, so I must consider it to be my favorite classical music cover.


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## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

hpowders said:


> True story:
> 
> As a kid I was so intimidated to reveal my love of classical music to my friends that I assumed the cover of pop music aficionado.
> 
> It got me through my teenage years, so I must consider it to be my favorite classical music cover.


I relate: I used to have recurring nightmares that my iPad would accidentally start playing classical music in the middle of class and I wouldn't be able to turn it off. 
And then it actually happened...


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

mstar said:


> I relate: I used to have recurring nightmares that my iPad would accidentally start playing classical music in the middle of class and I wouldn't be able to turn it off.
> And then it actually happened...


How was your new seat in the back row; the "human failure" section?


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## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

hpowders said:


> How was your new seat in the back row; the "human failure" section?


Actually, no one heard it but my friend and my teacher. The former started laughing amiably, but my teacher gave me a "what-the-hell-is-your-problem" glare. 
But hey, go figure. That guy used to harass me about using the bathroom and claimed I wandered around the school. (Not true.)
Worst thing was? It was a "Catholic" school.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

mstar said:


> Actually, no one heard it but my friend and my teacher. The former started laughing amiably, but my teacher gave me a "what-the-hell-is-your-problem" glare.
> But hey, go figure. That guy used to harass me about using the bathroom and claimed I wandered around the school. (Not true.)
> Worst thing was? It was a "Catholic" school.


The "what the hell is your problem" stare I used to get frequently in the grade school schoolyard.
My crime? Breathing.


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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

I hope Allmusic doesn't mind me hot-linking to their images. I feel like I'm shoplifting.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Since most classical pieces were never recorded by their original artists, aren't most recordings "covers?"


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

MarkW said:


> Since most classical pieces were never recorded by their original artists, aren't most recordings "covers?"


No, they reflect the pieces / works/ artists or era :tiphat:


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

*


QuietGuy said:



This cover is one that grabbed my attention. The music is good, too. 

View attachment 82239

Click to expand...

*Best_ Overture to the School for Scandal_, E-VA!

(Though the Zinman is great too.)


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## Conglomerate (Jan 30, 2016)




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## MJongo (Aug 6, 2011)

My favorite:


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

few classical covers with illustrations of the great Richard M. Powers


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