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Re: Russianoff Mouthpiece

Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2003-09-27 18:02

Hi Elsie,

If the mouthpiece is in good condition, you may have come across a (minor) treasure. As you may know Leon Russianoff was a near legendary teacher. His second methods book, now out-of-print (unless efforts to resurrect it have finally been successful), is highly sought-after. As I recall, there was some discussion of his mouthpieces awhile ago in the Klarinet list. You might want to search the Klarinet archives (link is on the home page of this sight) for "russianoff" without the quotes for comments more reliable than my memory. (You can also search the bulletin board archives for a number of comments on him as a teacher.) If my memory is correct, however, Russianoff did not sell his mouthpieces. Rather, he made them for some of his students -- who prized them highly. Assuming his production was thus relatively small, it seems likely to me that his work was limited to facing a blank, rather than making his own blank or doing work on the chamber, baffle, etc., but this is purely speculation on my part. I don't know what kind of blank he used (and it may have varied) but I think it was high-quality and would not be surprised to learn it was Chedeville.

I have one that came with a clarinet I bought on eBay a few years ago. I use it as a back-up and I like it very much. I don't follow eBay as closely as I used to so there may have been a few relatively recent sales. Personally, however, I have only seen one and that was a few years ago. As I recall, it was in fine condition and brought around $150.

Best regards,
jnk

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