Disney Hall was left off CD cover

THE Los Angeles Philharmonic management got a jolt when it saw Deutsche Grammophon’s cover for the orchestra’s first live CD recording at the Walt Disney Concert Hall: Disney Hall wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

The record company had used a photo of the hall for the cover of Salonen’s “Wing on Wing,” a piece written for the Phil to celebrate Disney Hall but played on the recording by the Finnish Radio Symphony. For the new CD of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” the company picked a photo of Salonen standing on the beach in Santa Monica.

The Philharmonic suggested that that wasn’t exactly helpful in announcing the news. So the company compromised. A sticker showing the hall is now on the cover photo.

“We felt obviously Walt Disney Concert Hall had to be represented on the first CD recorded live in the hall,” said Adam Crane, director of publicity for the L.A. Philharmonic Assn. “The problem with a sticker is they usually put it on the outside of the package. Once you open the package, the sticker is gone, and there goes Walt Disney Concert Hall. So the compromise is that the sticker is on the package so it will be permanently on the cover.”

Crane said the album, recorded in January, is available for download online at iTunes, with an interview with Salonen.

“This is more about the audio component than the cover,” Crane said. “The cover is fine. The sound is spectacular.”

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Chris Pasles