Another remarkable cellist was Janos Starker (born July 5, 1924) who was principal cellist of the Chicago Symphony under Fritz Reiner, and concertized throughout the world. He was recognized as one of the truly great cellists and although he retired from giving concerts a few years ago, he continues to teach and give master classes. Here is a 2-CD set, Volume I of a projected series, offering some of Starker's "legendary" Period LPs (he recorded 15 records for the label). Hearing them it is easy to understand why their release catapulted the young cellist to international recognition. Some of the LP notes are included in the accompanying booklet, and we also find that Starker was personally very involved in the technical side of the recordings. Peter Bartók (son of Bela) was the engineer, and provides a very close-up sonic picture of the solo cello including fingerboard and bow noises as well as Starker's breathing. Surprisingly, no specific recording dates are provided, just "in New York in the early 1950's." This set is released on EMG Classics, a division of Essential Media Group, but I haven't been able to discover anything about this company or their distribution process—so it may be difficult to find this set.