8/10/2019 leb-endo
2/32 S p e c if ic a t io n s s u b j e c t t o c h a n g e w it
h o u t n o t ic e .
P la ye r s o f f e r t h e ir e n d o r s e m e n t s
The Opus gives me greater ease of playing all over the horn,
with aneven sound from the softest to the
loudest dynamic. The register re-sponse is much better than my
previ-ous instruments. The legato is easier,as well as slurs.
Articulation is moresecure. Reed selection becomes some-what less
critical, too, simply becausethe instruments overall performanceis
so much better. Once players havethe chance to compare these
clarinetsto their present instruments, they mayno longer be
satisfied with what theyhave. The Opus is the latest chapter inthe
history of clarinet development.If Im not mistaken, it is going to
havea lot of acceptancevery quickly.
Eddie DanielsI nternationally hailed clarinetist andrecording
artist Eddie Daniels playsand endorsesthe Leblanc France Concerto
as hisinstrument of choice. Hailed for do-
ing more than anyother player of hisgeneration torepopularize
theclarinet, Eddie hasearned a reputationas the most giftedand
intensely beau-tiful clarinetist nowrecording (NewYork Daily
News).
Anytime I walkonstage, I cant afford to play any-thing but the
best; its that simple. Implaying the Concerto exclusivelynow, and
Ive never felt more solidand comfortableor had more funplaying.
First, the intonation is better.Things I struggled with on my
oldinstrument are easy on the Concerto.It delivers a warm, even
sound fromtop to bottom. For the varied styles of music I play, the
Concerto has just theright flexibility. I especially like itsweight
and balanceit feels comfort-
able in my hands. In total, this instru-ment represents a big
improvementover what the clarinet has been until
now.
Elsa Ludewig-VerdehrG iving her complete endorsemento the
Leblanc France Concerto is onof the most respected clarinet
teacher/
performein world, EL u d e w iVerdehr.
professorM i c h i gState Uversity, Ehas buone of
most enviable classes of advanceclarinet students in the U.S. In
addition, the Verdehr Trio, which consistsof her husband, violinist
WalteVerdehr, and pianist Gary Kirkpatrick,has received the
enthusiastic praise ofcritics worldwide for its dynamic
andtechnically dazzling interpretations.
One of the things I like best abouthe Concerto is the evenness
of itsound throughout the playing rangeand, specifically, the
evenness of ththroat tones and smoothness over thebreak area. When
playing in the upper clarion register (G, A, B and above the staff)
and in the altissimoregister, particularly at soft dynamiclevels,
the clarinet seems to hold thsound without my having to add
airsupport or to firm the embouchure. Ihave found the Concerto has
helpedto free me from worrying about certain inherent acoustical
difficulties othe clarinet and makes it easier toachieve what I
wish to do musically.
Larry Combs
Elsa Ludewi g-Verdehr
The Leblanc traditionO ur roots trace back to 1750, to thecourt
of Louis XV, before Mozart was born. Wind instruments were
still
evolving into the forms we would rec-ognize today when Ets. D.
Noblet wasfounded in France. In 1904, ownershipof Noblet passed to
Georges Leblanc,descendant of a long line of distin-guished French
instrument makers.
Shortly after World War I, GeorgesLeblanc and his son, Lon,
organizedG. Leblanc Cie. as an experimentallaboratory for
acoustical research andfor the development of new and moreaccurate
woodwind manufacturingmethods. The company prospered andgrew under
the management of LonLeblanc, the worlds only clarinetmaker who is
also recognized as agifted artist, holder of the coveted FirstPrize
of the Conservatoire NationalSuprieur de Musique de Paris.
On both sides of the Atlantic, for-merly led by Lon Leblanc and
now byVito Pascucci, Leblanc has dedicatedits research to finding
the deli-cate balance of hand-craftsmanship and ma-chine tooling
that produceswind instruments of unsur-passed quality. Today
Leblancis the only company in theworld specializing in
themanufacture of the completefamily of clarinets.
Larry CombsO ne of the most talented and re-spected clarinet
artists in the worldprincipal clarinetist of the Chicago
Symphony Or-chestra, LarryCombswas im-mediately takenwith
Leblancsflagship model, theOpus, now en-dorses it and playsit as
his standardinstrument.
Eddie Dani els
