But violinist Lara St. John, who opens the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra's 30th anniversary season today in Corbett Auditorium, was surprised at the "hubbub" she created with the album cover of her 1996 debut disc. She was wearing nothing but her violin.

"Personally, I think that's because that's never been done before. Nobody had ever put themselves on the cover of a classical album in a, shall we say, innovative fashion," laughs the violinist, a native of London, Ontario. "I just wanted to do something different, and in a way it worked. A lot of people picked that up who would have never otherwise."

It made her an instant media darling - CNN's Showbiz Today, People, Fox News and U.S. News and World Report all came calling. Since then, her album has sold more than 35,000 copies - amazing for a classical disc.

"How else would that have happened if I had, like, stuck a picture of a babbling brook on the cover?" says the 32-year-old violinist. "So, that publicity got out to people who ordinarily probably wouldn't have ever heard of Bach. That was my credo behind the whole thing."

IF YOU GO

What: Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Mischa Santora, conductor; Lara St. John, violinist When: 3 p.m. today, Corbett Auditorium, University of Cincinnati; 7:30 p.m. Monday, Greaves Hall, Northern Kentucky University The program: Vivaldi's The Four Seasons; Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, Pastoral Preconcert: Learn about the music in Tune-Up!, 45 minutes before the concert Tickets: $20-$45; $10 students. 723-1182; www.cincychamberorch.com

St. John is among an increasing number of classical artists unafraid to market themselves like pop stars. The Eroica Trio, which toured with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra to Florida last spring, is known more for glossy supermodel poses than Beethoven - although the threesome plays well, too. A British string quartet, Bond, has been called "Spice Girls with Violins" and Finnish bombshell violinist Linda Brava posed nude for Playboy.

"I've never seen why we can't take some ideas and some innovation from other fields of music, and use them to pull more of the Gen-X, Gen-Y Generation into what we do," says St. John, whose favorite band is Radiohead. "I've met people who've never heard of Beethoven."

'Rethinking Bach

On the cover of St. John's Gypsy album (Well-Tempered; $18.98), she drapes her long blond tresses over a bare breast. Her newest album, re: Bach (Sony Classical; $12.98) is also outside of the classical box - though not for its more modest cover, an informal photo gallery of a barefoot-but-evening-gowned St. John.

Produced by Magnus Fiennes, brother of actors Ralph and Joseph (and, incidentally, also the producer for Bond) - the disc is a New Agey-kind of remix of Bach snippets in a spaced-out sound canvas. St. John collaborates with tabla virtuoso Trilok Gurtu, pedal steel guitarist B. J. Cole and other musicians on synthesizer, percussion and world and jazz instruments.

For its title, re: Bach, "Magnus and I wanted something kind of Zen," St. John says. "It could be redux, regarding, redone, remastered - and it's two letters that absolutely everybody understands in this computer age."

The album marries Baroque with world music, jazz, pop and techno. It may work well as movie soundtrack or club music, but it has little to do with Bach's actual music. "Tocceilidh," for instance, is part toccata, part Irish ceilidh. "The Sicilian" has whispering male vocals right out of an Eternity perfume commercial. "Ten Fifty Two" is a disco version of Bach's D Minor Harpsichord Concerto (BWV 1052).

Clearly, it's aimed at those not reared in the concert hall. Though much of St. John's virtuosity is covered up in high-tech soup, she shines in moments such as "Bombay Minor" - a Bach tune that is only accompanied - ingeniously - on tabla, a pair of North Indian drums. "Fugue" has an appealing jazz combo of percussion, tabla and bass.

"I don't know how much people actually look at CD jackets and liners - I almost never do, but I certainly like pictures," St. John says. She tries to have several photos on her album covers so that a record-buyer "feels a connection."

Market like Madonna

St. John started violin at age 2. By age 4, a prodigy, she had made her debut with the Windsor Symphony, and at 10, made her European debut in Lisbon. At 14, she entered the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, a prestigious music school that awards all of its students full scholarships.

Although St. John has plenty of role models in the violin realm, it is Madonna who inspires her when it comes to image.

"She's just so smart. She knows exactly what she's doing all the time, and she keeps changing and reinventing herself," St. John says. "It's not like I rush out and buy every Madonna CD, but I do watch how she does her interviews, how she presents herself to the public."

Being savvy about marketing could be the savior of classical music - long bemoaned for graying audiences and financial troubles, she believes.

"It's just a question of getting people exposed to it, basically," says St. John. "The audience is going to be there as long as they've heard it. That's all it takes, and that's always been my point. The trick is, how to get people in to hear this great stuff that we've devoted our lives to."

E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com