 |
| New Larica Rosin (Liebenzeller Formula) |
UPDATE: 01/28/11
Liebenzeller is back! Now under a new name, Larica. The company states that they use the same manufacturing process and materials as the original Liebenzeller. Indeed, after sampling the new product, I think they have indeed brought this rosin back to life.
There have been some issues keeping the product in stock, and, as was the case with the original Liebenzeller, the price is high (around $50.00 per cake). However, it is excellent rosin and I'm very glad to see it back.
Original Post
 |
| Original Liebenzeller Rosin |
Liebenzeller rosin has been around a long time. In fact, I still have a cake of it from the 1980s, and, when I found out it was going to be discontinued, I bought several more cakes of the gold I and gold II from a local violin shop. From what I understand, it is unlikely that this rosin will be available again, unless it is produced and sold by a different company. Although it may be possible to find Gold II, I do believe that Gold I may be nearly impossible to find. I did a thorough search of shops with an Internet presence both in the United States and abroad, as well as looking on ebay and craigslist, and I couldn’t come up with anything. A couple of stores that still sold it about a year ago (one in Australia and one in England) are now out of stock too.
But not every shop advertises its products on the internet, and I suspect that if you called a few string shops that don’t have a strong internet presence for selling accessories (such as Moenning in Philadelphia, Reuning in Boston, Claire Givens in Minneapolis, or John Waddle in St. Paul) you might find that somebody still has some supply left.
However, many different brands of rosin have come out since Liebenzeller first appeared on the market that are, in my opinion, just as good; and some (such as Andrea Paganinni) have qualities similar to the refined nature of the Liebenzeller. I’d highly recommend looking into these options for fine and light (rather than coarse and dark) rosins that you might like just as much or even better. In my experience, Liebenzeller Gold I has a tendency to apply rather lightly and come off quickly. Because of this, even within a rehearsal or performance, one might feel that the bow already needs more rosin. I hope you are able to locate some of the Gold I, but, in any event, I do think there are a lot of other good options available to you.
