Why are classical solo cello LPs so expensive?

The solo cello recordings on LP are in high demand from collectors in Japan, Korea and China, particularly the Bach. The Bach solo violin partitas are similarly in high demand, with further premiums for some artists.

The Starker box set of the Bach sonatas has commanded a premium from collectors for the past 30 years. Prices are down rather significantly since the release of the Speakers Corner reissue, but still in the several hundred US dollars range. Jacqueline Du Pre has always had a special following among collectors.
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Dear Rushton: Only for curiosity: how do you know or where do you read about that high demand from East land collectors?

Regards and enjoy th music.
Raul.

There is also a low supply in addition to the demand.

For example, I really want a copy of the Casals Bach solo cello suites (in a 50's or early 60's pressing) and I have not yet located one that wasn't in mediocre shape.

Still looking. I am certain to become one of those fools paying an obscene amount, no doubt!

Raul, this is what has been reported to me over the years by two different used classical music dealers from whom I regularly purchase LPs. It also matches what I see in the eBay auctions.
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from Bach to the Beatles...supply and demand.

Dear Rushton: Thank you, seems to me then that that kind of music is almost the East land " signature ", fine.

rgards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Well, not only for Starker's and DuPre's, but many cello LPs from Casals, Fournier, Rostropovich, Myski, Yoyoma, Bylsma, ..., they all seem to be much more expensive than for other instruments, including violin.
I just wonder why. Collectors in Asia may be one reason, but I am not sure if it is one of the bigger reasons.
Sure, the supply and demand work here, but why so much demand? Maybe, cello LPs were produced in much lesser volume compared to other instruments? Then, it may be an answer. Other than that, the only I can think of is that, vinyl lovers love the cello sound on LPs and try to grab as much as they can with top dollars.

It's ironic that this thread appeared today. My older sister (she's 72) just sent me some of her old LPs as a sort of birthday present. They arrived today and included was a mono Mercury Living Presence 3-LP set of Janos Starker playing the Bach Unaccompanied Suites for cello, just like this!

I have a bit of history with the cello. My brother started studying it when I was 8 and I grew up from then on listening to him practice the cello and perform on the cello. He earned a BS in cello performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and studied for a year under Lynn Harrell, who's probably the best cellist living today.

After my brother got serious about cello, my dad started buying classical cello LPs, including the Mercury Starker set, some RCA Red Seals with Heifetz and Piatagorsky, and the Villa-Lobos album on Everest recorded on 35mm mag film.

When I bought my first CD player in 1987 I started building up a classical music library. You couldn't get the Starker or Casals on CD then, and Rostropovich wouldn't be recording his version for another 14 years or so. So the best I could get at the time was Lynn Harrell's on London Digital, which is actually quite nice. I also heard the first Yo Yo Ma and a few years ago picked up the Rostropovich set.

Well, that Starker LP set had spoiled me. If it wasn't the performance it was the sonics, and vice-versa. Now that I've had nearly two years to get reacquainted with the LP sound, I can say that listening to Starker album was like a cool drink of water after a long walk through the digital desert.

The strengths of LP playback mesh well with the sonic character of the cello. The way the cello's tone springs to life, blooms, and then fades demands the near infinite dynamic resolution of analog. Digital doesn't begin to capture the way the bow scratches the string, activates the spruce top, causes the instrument body to resonate, and then fades as the next note begins. LPs present it in all (or most of) its glory.

Since the advent of the CD, we've had some excellent cellists--Harrell, Ma, Bylsmer--but only one legend, Rostropovich. The LP era saw several legends--Casals, Piatagorsky, Rostropovich again, Starker, Fournier, Leonard Rose (who taught both Ma and Harrell), and DuPre. Except for the Speakers Corner reissue of the Starker Mercury set, most cello on LP is of a limited finite and shrinking supply. And DuPre, who should have been peaking in the last few years, had to stop playing over 20 years ago. So her discography is relatively brief.

I suspect there are far more LPs (i.e., copies of each title) of the violinists--Heifetz, Zimbalist, Szeryng, Stern, Francescatti, etc. than of the cellists.