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- Pair of Leblanc, Paris, Opus Clarinets
Pair of Leblanc, Paris, Opus Clarinets
This very fine pair of clarinets are a commission sale for Clarinets Direct. Their sole and former owner, was one of Spain's leading professionals, this pair were his main instruments for sometime as Principal clarinet of The Euskadi Symphony Orchestra. These instruments were the finest in the modern Leblanc range and were manufactured until the sale of the Leblanc Paris factory to Buffet, in 2009. They are of polycylindrical bore design at 14.61mm and were designed to be better in tune and more stable than their direct competitor; the Buffet Prestige R13. Leblanc engineering has always been of a high standard and these clarinets feature integral raised and tapered tone holes; Inverted taper bore barrels of the Moennig pattern; 18 keys, i.e. LH Ab/Eb, and unstained hand selected Grenadilla wood. All in all a thoroughly modern design with many novel features. Quite rightly the Opus quickly gained a large following amongst top professional players.
The Bb has matching serial numbers 63959. There is no damage to the wood, which is crack and repair free. The plating overall is excellent with no discernible loss to the keys or ring fingers. The Bb has been slightly customised with the tenon and bell rings removed and the metal tenon rings have been replaced with Cocobolo wood rings. In addition both instruments have had some slight tape adjustment to certain tone holes for fine tuning purposes. This could easily be removed by the next owner if desired. Both instruments have had a full check over in our workshop prior to sale, with pads and tenon corks replaced as necessary, and all key work regulated. All pads are either Pisoni fish skin, original Leblanc with reflectors, or cork on those holes prone to attract water. The A, matching serial numbers 63738, again has no plating loss, and has original bell and tenon rings. All pieces are original and stamped Leblanc, with 4 interchangeable barrels [ the bores of the Bb and A are identical] of 64.8mm 66.4mm, 66.5mm, and 66.0mm. The case is the original, which has seen much use, but is in good condition.