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Bach performed by girls in bikinis? Topless Tchaikovsky? The cataclysmic consequences seemed endless. When violinist Vanessa-Mae made the video in which she emerges, Venus-like, from the sea in a wet, white shift dress, certain sectors of the classical music world reacted with the kind of horror that might well have greeted the Marquis de Sade at a Sunday school party. It was not her near-nudity that shocked so much as the video’s naked admission that if she could use her looks as well as her musical abilities to get her ahead, she would. For an actress or a rock star, this would not have mattered, but in a classical music industry where – until that video – risqué began at violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter’s bare shoulders and ended at her cleavage, it seemed like a betrayal of a proudly disciplined profession to something more (whisper it) superficial.
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That was the mid-’90s. Since then, Vanessa-Mae Nicholson has made a fortune. In April 2006, the Sunday Times Rich List revealed her as Britain’s tenth wealthiest person under 30. This in itself was extraordinary, but the true surprise came in the names beneath her. The violinist’s wealth stood at £32 million, a full £7m more than that of Coldplay’s Chris Martin, more than twice as much as the £14m-earning Daniel Radcliffe, and £20m clear of another talented woman who has traded on her beauty (as well as creating commercial waves in a sea setting), ‘Titanic’ star Kate Winslet.

In a society that fêtes sex and beauty more remorselessly than ever before, using your face and any other physically attractive parts of your anatomy to help make your fortune outside modelling will always be fraught with debate. On the surface it seems that the feminist battleground has shifted since Naomi Wolf argued in ‘The Beauty Myth’ that ‘there is a secret “underlife” poisoning our freedom; infused with notions of beauty, it is a dark vein of self-hatred, physical obsessions, terror of ageing and loss of self-control’. Yet the sentence still gives pause for thought, and in the more cerebral professions – such as novel-writing, classical music or even chess – to trade to any extent on your looks seems, for some, the equivalent of entering into a Faustian pact. Not that everyone sees this as a deterrent. Since Vanessa-Mae’s video, several other classical musicians have trodden the sex ’n’ bowing path, perhaps the most outrageous being Lara St John, a Canadian violinist who posed topless for her debut CD, ‘Bach Works for Solo Violin’, with only her fiddle protecting her modesty. Thank God she didn’t play the piccolo. In a written debate, in musical magazine the Strad, against respected (though, in this context, unfortunately named) Hungarian cellist Janos Starker, she argued: ‘Our [average] Joe has the impression that this music, written in his great-great-great-grandfather’s time, is as dead as his ancestor. Changing this perception is where intelligent marketing can serve the music.’

Nicola Benedetti, who won BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2004, agrees with St John that because ‘there are fewer and fewer people for whom classical music has any relevance… it’s every performer’s duty to go out and get people interested’. However, she thinks this should be done through education, not exhibitionism, and is wary of the glamour label, not least because her own beauty has threatened to trap her in the nubile-and-happens-to-be-talented box. Earlier this month she lashed out in the Scotsman at the culture of celebrity that has swept up women including Nicholson and pianist Myleene Klass. Talking to Time Out, she declares: ‘In classical music, you need the confirmation of the great musicians within the industry. Any supposed “benefits” from image last for a very, very short time. The world of classical music should be more about patience and quality and detail.’

Benedetti is just one artist battling the negative consequences of sexy marketing. Royal Ballet principal Ed Watson recently experienced a backlash when a company ad emphasised his muscularity, describing him as ‘stronger than a rhino’. Simon Millward, founder of Albion Media, the PR company that also acts as a marketing consultancy to classical musicians, warns about such attention-grabbing ploys. He has been called in as an advisor to the young musicians taking part in ‘Classical Star’, the forthcoming BBC2 reality TV show that aims to be like a ‘Fame Academy’ for classical music. He warns them and others in a similar position: ‘Be very careful. Don’t do Hello! People have done the glamour, have been pushed, and it sullies their long-term chances.’

The key word here is integrity. The ideal is that if you have the talent, it will out; if you have the discipline and patience, it will be recognised. But if you’re struggling to make it as an artist, you know there are a lot of people with talent, discipline and patience, and often you will need that extra something to stand out from the crowd. Andrew Lownie, who became a literary agent when John le Carré’s agent took him on, asserts ‘Publishers are always looking for promotable authors, which means they are articulate but often good-looking too. How a book sells frequently depends on the way it’s promoted rather than the way it’s critically received. I’ve had books that have had good lead reviews in all the main papers but have only sold 700 copies.’

Of course there are examples of authors – such as Zadie Smith – whose highly media-friendly beauty is just the icing on their talent. Her example demonstrates to any savvy marketing department that even when a writer has extraordinary ability, it won’t stop journalists focusing on attributes other than the qualities inherent in their work. From Byron via Hemingway to the twenty-first century, the publishing world has also recognised that, along with looks, a sexy life story can shift copies. One of Lownie’s authors, Damien Lewis, the former war reporter who has written blockbuster thriller ‘Cobra Gold’, is currently being repackaged – according to Lownie – as a cross between John le Carré and Frederick Forsyth. Lewis himself says, ‘In the same way that Forsyth and le Carré drew on their journalistic and espionage experiences, I’m bringing in all that background. I’ve met and interviewed warlords, drug-smugglers, child prostitutes, generals, rebel soldiers, terrorists. There is a huge cast of characters there.’

Yet it’s difficult to be accused of selling out by flaunting a shapely life story. Playing the beauty card is always more likely to raise questions about your ability. As in the case of respected chess grandmaster Maria Manakova, who caused ructions when she appeared almost naked in Russian men’s magazine Speed. A predictable furore, and accusations of her cheapening the game, ensued. However – as if to support her approach – so did high-profile articles in several ‘respectable’ broadsheets. Nigel Short, the Commonwealth chess champion applauded her achievement. ‘Whatever attracts people to the game must be good,’ he asserted. ‘Why should it be that chess is the only aspect of human life which doesn’t contain sex?’

Nicola Benedetti will perform the world premiere of John Tavener’s violin concerto, ‘Lalishri’, on Wednesday 26 at 7.30pm at the Royal Festival Hall.