A Gallery of DG Album Artwork

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Tchaikovsky: Capriccio italien; "1812" Overture
Berlin Philharmonic/Herbert von Karajan
(1974)







The care lavished on the concept and illustration of covers has always been an essential feature of Deutsche Grammophon policy. The symbolic significance of the CD cover or record jacket was championed by Pali Meller Marcovicz, the great orchestrator of this policy. This was to be an extension of the technological excellence and artistic quality.

Albinoni: Adagio
Pachelbel: Canon
Bach: Air
Vivaldi: La Notte
Mozart: Serenata notturna
Gluck: Reigen seliger Geister; Dance of the Blessed Spirits
Berlin Philharmonic/Herbert von Karajan
(1984)



The neo-Classicism pursued by Pali Meller Marcovicz and his team emphasized the values of seriousness, moderation, proportion ad rigour. It is no coincidence that this aesthetic particularly echoed what Herbert von Karajan strove for in his conducting. The covers were a perfect illustration of this distancing, conveying the artist’s gravity and mystique.

Ravel: Tzigane; Shéhérazade
Margaret Price (soprano)
Salvatore Accardo (violin)
London Symphony Orchestra/Claudio Abbado
(1989)

Bartók: The Wooden Prince; Cantata Profana
John Aler (tenor), John Tomlinson (baritone)
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Boulez
(1992)

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Papageno)
RIAS-Kammerchor
Berlin Philharmonic/Karl Böhm
(1964)



In the latter half of the 20th century, the cartouche has been reduced to a far more modest size and its placement is no longer determined by an invariable structure but depends solely on its graphic interaction with the entire cover. Information about the work(s) is no longer inside the cartouche but directly on the photo.

Kagel: Exotica
(1972)

Schoenberg: Transfigured Night; Pelleas und Melisande
Berlin Philharmonic/Herbert von Karajan
(1974)

Mahler: Symphony No.5
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Claudio Abbado
(1981)

Martha Argerich & Claudio Abbado
Complete Concerto Recordings
(2015)

Anna Netrebko: Verismo
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia/Antonio Pappano
(2016)

All the formal evolutions reflect a profound upheaval of traditional graphic codes, justified by the joint desire of the record industry and the new generation of artists that it is promoting to decompartmentalize classical music and make more accessible to the great majority.

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
Edda Moser (soprano)
Hanna Schwarz (alto)
René Kollo (tenor)
Kurt Moll (bass)
Rundfunkchor Hilversum
Concertgebouworkest/Leonard Bernstein
(2017)