Klarinet Archive - Posting 000042.txt from 1996/09

From: Jonathan Cohler <cohler@-----.NET>
Subj: Rossi Instruments and Andy Simon
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 22:27:48 -0400

Neil,

Actually, Andy played the recital on a Buffet that he borrowed from someone
(I forget who). But he had tried out a Rossi while there and loved it (and
may have indeed offered Luis $5,000 for it), but he didn't feel comfortable
playing it the next day, because the keys do feel different from an R13, so
it takes a few days of playing to get used to.

In fact, one of the first things that I noticed about the difference in the
key positioning is that the Rossi makes everything much easier to play.
But when one has prepared a highly technical program that depends on highly
reliable finger placement, it makes sense to go with an instrument that has
the keys in exactly the same places.

Andy is principal of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, by the way. And his
recital at the ClarinetFest was absolutely first class. In fact, IMHO, his
and Ricardo's were the two best of the Festival.

----------------------
Jonathan Cohler
cohler@-----.net

At 5:06 PM 9/10/96, Neil Leupold wrote:
>Hopefully the reply to this message will be posted to the list, as I'm
>sure many others would be interested in information regarding the Rossi
>clarinets. As I remember, Andrew Simon's clarinets were stolen during
>the ClarinetFest in Arizona last year (Andrew is principal of the Korean
>Philharmonic, I think). He had a recital the following morning and
>borrowed one of Rossi's clarinets for his performance. The instrument
>was so impressive to him, he offered Rossi $5000, on the spot, to
>purchase the instrument outright. Rossi declined, however, because his
>backlog of orders was so great that he had to honor his commitment of
>that instrument to one of his customers (who'd been waiting quite a while
>to receive it).
>
>Neil
>
>On Mon, 9 Sep 1996, Starr Wayne wrote:
>
>> Dear John,
>>
>> Sean Talbot mentioned that you might know a lot about Rossi clarinets.
>> I am interested in your opinion of them, the cost, and if there is
>> anywhere in the USA that they can be tried. Thanks for any information
>> that you may have.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Starr Schaftel Wayne
>>