The Violin Player

For the 1994 film, see The Violin Player (film).

The Violin Player
Studio album by Vanessa-Mae
Released	1995
Recorded	1993–1994
Studio	Abbey Road Whitfield Street (London, England)
Genre	Synth-pop acoustic classical
Length	42:50
Label	EMI
Producer	Mike Batt Ian Wherry Vanessa-Mae
Vanessa-Mae chronology
Tchaivoksky & Beethoven Violin Concertos (1991) The Violin Player (1995) The Alternative Record from Vanessa Mae (1996)
Singles from The Violin Player
"Toccata & Fugue" Released: 16 January 1995 "Red Hot" Released: 8 May 1995 "Classical Gas" Released: 6 November 1995

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

The Violin Player is the first synth-pop album by classical and pop musician Vanessa-Mae, released in 1995. It is the first album Vanessa-Mae released on the EMI label. The album was mostly produced by Mike Batt.

Content

The Violin Player features a varied blend of music – covers of classical music (J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor ), remakes of old favourites (including American composer Mason Williams' "Classical Gas"), original compositions (seven tracks composed by British musician and songwriter Mike Batt), and one original track by Vanessa-Mae herself, co-written with Ian Wherry ("Red Hot").

Singles

Three singles were released from the album: "Toccata and Fugue", which reached number 16 in the UK Singles Chart, "Red Hot", which reached number 37 and "Classical Gas", which reached number 41. ^[2]

Commercial performance

The Violin Player reached number 11 in the UK Albums Chart in February 1995, and was certified Gold by the BPI in June 1995. It has sold over 1.2 million copies worldwide. ^[3] The album has been reissued as a multi-channel hybrid SACD by EMI Music Hong Kong.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mike Batt, except where noted

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Toccata and Fugue in D Minor"	Johann Sebastian Bach, arr: Batt	7:47
2.	"Contradanza"		3:49
3.	"Classical Gas"	Mason Williams	3:21
4.	"Theme from Caravans"		5:06
5.	"Warm Air"		3:38
6.	"Jazz Will Eat Itself"		3:30
7.	"Widescreen"		3:58
8.	"Tequila Mockingbird"	Ludwig van Beethoven, arr: Batt	3:26
9.	"City Theme"		4:32
10.	"Red Hot"	Ian Wherry, Vanessa-Mae	3:16
11.	"Classical Gas" (reggae version; Aswad and Vanessa-Mae (bonus track))
Total length:			46:31

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. ^[4]

Musicians

• Vanessa-Mae – violin
• Mike Batt – keyboards (tracks 1–9)
• Gareth Cousins – synthesisers (tracks 1–9)
• Martin Bliss – guitars (track 10)
• Clem Clempson – guitars (tracks 1–9)
• Dick Morgan – oboe (track 1)
• Maurice Murphy – trumpet (track 1)
• Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – orchestra; conducted by Mike Batt
• Phil Todd – saxophones
• Vasko Vassilev – violin/viola section (track 10)
• Ian Wherry – keyboards (track 10)

Production

• Tracks 1–9 produced and arranged by Mike Batt
• Tracks 1-9 engineered by Gareth Cousins
• Track 10 produced and arranged by Ian Wherry and Vanessa-Mae
• Track 10 programmed by Ian Wherry; mix engineer: Ben Robbins
• Mastered by Ray Staff
• Music typesetting: John Zaradin
• Photography: John Paul
• Sleeve by Stuart @ Peacock Marketing Design
• Recorded and engineered by Gareth Cousins at Abbey Road Studios and Whitfield Street Recording Studios, London

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1995) Peak position Australian Albums Chart [5] 2 Austrian Albums Chart [6] 1 Dutch Albums Chart [7] 47 Finnish Albums Chart [8] 2 German Albums Chart [9] 20 Hungarian Albums Chart [10] 12 New Zealand Albums Chart [11] 2 Norwegian Albums Chart [12] 28 Swedish Albums Chart [13] 52 Swiss Albums Chart [14] 14 UK Albums Chart [15] 11

Year-end charts Chart (1996) Position German Albums Chart [16] 83

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria) [17]	Platinum	50,000*
Belgium (BRMA) [18]	Gold	25,000*
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) [19]	Platinum	54,251 [19]
Germany (BVMI) [20]	Gold	250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI) [21]	Platinum	25,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) [22]	Platinum	15,000^
Poland (ZPAV) [23]	Platinum	100,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [24]	Gold	50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [25]	Gold	25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [26]	Gold	100,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI) [27]	Platinum	1,000,000*
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Erik Crawford. "The Violin Player - Vanessa-Mae | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 2016-09-04.
2. "VANESSA-MAE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
3. "Who's selling where". Billboard. 17 February 1996. p.  62 . Retrieved 17 May 2018. Des'ree billboard.
4. The Violin Player (liner notes). Vanessa-Mae. EMI. 1995.
5. Steffen Hung (1995-04-30). "Australian charts portal". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
6. Steffen Hung. "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
7. Steffen Hung (1997-03-22). "Dutch Charts". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
8. "Musiikkituottajat - Tilastot - Suomen virallinen lista - Artistit". Ifpi.fi. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
9. "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche". Musicline.de. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
10. "Kereső - előadó/Cím szerint - Archívum - MAHASZ - Magyar Hangfelvétel-kiadók Szövetsége". Archived from the original on September 24, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
11. "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1996-02-04. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
12. Steffen Hung. "Norwegian charts portal". Norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
13. Steffen Hung (1996-05-24). "Swedish Charts Portal". Swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
14. Steffen Hung. "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
15. "VANESSA-MAE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
16. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment . Retrieved September 8, 2016.
17. "Austrian album certifications – Vanessa Mae – The Violin Player" (in German). IFPI Austria.
18. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 1996". Ultratop. Hung Medien.
19. "Vanessa Mae" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
20. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Vanessa Mae; 'The Violin Player')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
21. "Dutch jazz certifications – Vanessa Mae – The Violin Player" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers.Enter The Violin Player in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1996 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
22. "New Zealand album certifications – Vanessa Mae – The Violin Player". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 2024-11-20.
23. "Wyróżnienia – Platynowe płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 1995 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 2024-12-06.
24. Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (PDF) (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. p. 944. ISBN   84-8048-639-2 . Retrieved October 7, 2019.
25. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('The Violin Player')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
26. "British album certifications – Vanessa Mae – The Violin Player". British Phonographic Industry.
27. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1997". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 2 February 2020.