(The Economist, 19th December 2006)

Musicians are finding clever ways to pay for the tools of their trade

“FROM the first note, I knew I had to go for it,” explains Jamie Walton, an up-and-coming British cellist, discussing his decision to buy a 1712 Guarneri filius Andreae cello for $1.7m. “I don't see it in material terms — it is a part of my soul.” But to raise the money, Mr Walton, aged 32, has ventured into less ethereal realms of the classical music world: he is cobbling together a syndicate of investors over the next two months who will own notional shares in the instrument.

Read or downlaod the complete Economist article with the graph of the Virtuoso performance from Florian Leonhard.