Nicola Benedetti tops Amazon music charts

31 August 2012, 17:15 | Updated: 31 August 2012, 17:31

Violinist Nicola Benedetti's new album, The Silver Violin, has topped the Amazon music charts.

'The Silver Violin', the new album from violinist Nicola Benedetti has shot to the top spot in the Amazon music chart. The online retailer's chart combines sales figures for all the music sections of its site, meaning that Benedetti is currently out-selling her peers across all genres.

Expressing disbelief at the news via her Twitter feed, Benedetti wrote: "No 1. in the pop charts on Amazon! A disc of classical music?" The album's popularity has been buoyed by a controversial interview with The Sun earlier this week, which sparked much media debate.

Featuring renditions of John Williams' music from Schindler's List, Howard Shore's music from 'Eastern Promises and various other movie music works, Benedetti's hope was that it would act as a gateway to classical music for newcomers.

Benedetti has said that she is choosing to focus on her music rather than the media storm that has broken after the Sun interview. She commented: "I think it’s important for me to take all of that negativity and energy… to talk about youth, to talk about culture, to talk about classical music."