A professional musician’s £30,000 bassoon that she has played in orchestras around the world has been stolen.
Francesca Carpos, 60, bought her Fox 601 bassoon in the Nineties and it has been with her throughout her career, from performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to galas in Moscow.
But it was stolen when her north London home was “ransacked” on November 21 by thieves who took a television, five laptops, cash and all jewellery in the house — including Ms Carpos’s wedding and engagement rings.
A second black plastic bassoon she uses to teach was also stolen.
The former Royal Academy of Music lecturer made headlines earlier this year for winning nearly £200,000 at an employment tribunal which ruled she had been wrongly sacked for referring to violinists as “gypos”.
She said: “The instruments are very personal. Instruments take a long time to know and become like your best friend. When you lose it, it is a terrific loss, it really is like a bereavement.
This one is worth about £30,000, so they’re expensive but it’s not the money that hurts, it’s like losing a part of yourself.”
She said losing it was worse than losing her ring, which she doesn’t wear often because it hampers her playing.Ms Carpos appealed to the thieves to return the instrument, which is made from Canadian maple wood that gives it a distinctive “colour and tiger stripe”.
“All I want is the bassoon back,” she said. “I don’t even think they would get much money for it and I don’t think they’ll find it very easy to sell.”
Friends, including renowned double bassist Chi-chi Nwanoku, OBE, sent their condolences on social media, writing: “Oh no! This is really terrible news. I hope they’re found soon.”
Ms Carpos is borrowing a bassoon from Howarth of London woodwind instrument makers but says nothing can replace hers. A police spokesman said: “We are investigating — no arrests yet.”
Last month a 310-year-old violin worth £250,000 was returned to musician Stephen Morris, 51, after he left it on a train.
