Musicians And Composers On Stamps

Happy Birthday to Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)! Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the composer, designed and engraved by French artist Claude Andréotto (1949- ), and issued by Monaco on October 17, 1990 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Tchaikovsky's birth, Scott No. 1742, plus a photograph of the composer, and a YouTube link to a video of a performance by Caitlin Kirschenbaum and Ben Delony of the Indiana University Ballet Theater of the exotic Arabian Dance from Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker."

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (1567-1643), an Italian composer, gambist (a performer on the viola da gamba), singer and Roman Catholic priest whose novel opera L'Orfeo is the earliest surviving opera still regularly performed. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Monteverdi and illustrating characters from L'Orfeo, designed by Giovanni Savini, printed by photogravure, and issued by Italy on May 15, 1967 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the composer's birth, Scott No. 957, plus an image of a portrait of Claudio Monteverdi (c. 1630) by Italian Baroque painter Bernardo Strozzi (c. 1581-1644), and a YouTube link to a performance of the Act 1 Prologue "Dal mi permesso" from L'Orfeo at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain conducted by Catalan conductor and gambist Jordi Savall I Bernadet (1941- ).

-nethryk

Happy Birthday to Karlis Baumanu (1835-1905), an ethnic Latvian composer in the Russian Empire who was the author of the lyrics and music of Dievs, sveti Latviju! ("God bless Latvia!"), the National Anthem of Latvia. Here is an image of a stamp honoring Baumanu, printed by lithography, and issued by Latvia on May 21, 2005, Scott No. 618, plus an image of a photograph of Karlis Baumanu which was a model for this stamp's design, and a YouTube link to a mass performance of the National Anthem at the 2011 Latvian Song Festival in Riga.

- nethryk

Otakar Ševcík (1852-1934) was a Czech violinist, a concertmaster, and an influential violin teacher. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Ševcík, designed by Vladimir Silovský (1891-1974), engraved by Bohdan Roule (1921-1960), and issued by Czechoslovakia on March 22, 1952 to commemorate the violinist's birth centenary, Scott No. 507, plus an image of a photograph of Otakar Ševcík, and a YouTube link to a short documentary about his distinguished life in the music world (sorry, no English subtitles).

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813-1883), a German composer, theater director, polemicist, and conductor perhaps best known for his four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen ("The Ring of the Nibelung," written from 1848 to 1874). Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Wagner, designed by R. Bergamo, printed by lithography (De La Rue de Colombia), and issued by Panama on May 26, 1966, Scott No. 465B, plus an image of a photograph of Richard Wagner, and a YouTube link to a recording of a 1954 performance by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwangler conducting, of "Siegfried's Funeral March" from Gotterdammerung ("Twilight of the Gods"), the last of the four operas in the cycle.

- nethryk

Masao Koga (1904-1978) was a Japanese composer and guitarist known for creating melodies, and a pioneer of Japanese popular music. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Koga, combined engraved and lithography, and issued by Japan on November 4, 2004 to commemorate the composer's birth centenary, Scott No. 2909, plus an image of the cover of one of Masao Koga's compact discs, and a YouTube link to a an instrumental medley of five of Koga's hits, performed by the Lara Mandolin Club.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Russian composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) whose compositions influenced future Russian classical composers to produce a distinctive Russian style of music. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Glinka, designed by S. Pomanski, printed by lithography, and issued by Russia (USSR) on February 23, 1957 to commemorate the centenary of the composer's death, Scott No. 1907, Zagorski No. 1887, plus an image of a photograph of Mikhail Glinka in 1856 which was a model for this stamp's design, and a YouTube link to a recording of Russian soprano opera singer Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya (1926-2012) performing Glinka's composition "The Lark" (1840).

- nethryk

Here is an image of a stamp honoring South Indian composer and poet Muthuswami Diksh1tar (1775-1835), one of the Musical Trinity of Carnatic music, printed by photogravure, and issued by India on March 18, 1976, Scott No. 716, plus an image of a painting of the composer, and a YouTube link to a recording of Muthuswami Diksh1tar's composition entitled Sri Nathadi Guruguho jayati jayati ("Victory to Lord Guruguha"), performed by Vidita Kanniks. Note: I had to substitute the numeral "1" for the letter "i" in the composer's name to circumvent SCF's automatic censoring filter.

- nethryk

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was an Italian composer whose operas are now standards in the worldwide repertoire. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Puccini, and depicting scenes from his opera Madama Butterfly (1903), designed by French artist Pierrette Lambert (1928- ), engraved by Eugène Lacaque (1914-2005), and issued by Monaco on November 9, 1983 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the composer's birth, Scott No. 1390, plus an image of the original poster (1904) for the opera created by German artist Adolfo Hohenstein (1854-1928), and a YouTube link to a video clip of Chinese operatic soprano Ying Huang (1968- ) as Cio-Cio-San singing the aria Un bel dì ("One beautiful day") in Frédéric Mitterrand's 1995 film adaptation of Madama Butterfly.

- nethryk

Here is an image of a stamp honoring Greek-American opera soprano Maria Callas (1923-1977), printed by lithography, and issued by Greece on May 5, 1980 as a EUROPA stamp, Scott No. 1352, plus an image of a publicity photograph of the diva, and a YouTube link to a recording of Maria Callas singing Violetta's aria E strano! ("How Strange") from La Traviata ("The Fallen Woman," 1853) by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901).

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to German/Austrian opera composer Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787). Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Gluck, and a page from the score for his opera Armide (1777), designed by Hermann Schwahn (1927-2003), combined engraved by Wolfgang Mauer and lithography, and issued by Germany on November 6, 1987 to commemorate the bicentenary of Christoph Willibald Gluck's death, Scott No. 1541, Michel No. 1343, plus an image of a book plate portrait of the composer which was probably a model for this stamp's design, and a YouTube link to a recording of the Overture to Armide performed by Les Musiciens du Louvre, Marc Minkowski conducting. Bonus: Signature.

- nethryk

Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880) was a Polish violinist and composer. Established in 1935, the prestigious International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition has been held in Warsaw every five years since 1952. Here is an image of a stamp honoring Wieniawski and publicizing the violin competition named after him, designed by Stefan Malecki (1924-2012), printed by photogravure, and issued by Poland on October 10, 1981, Scott No. 2482, plus an image of a photograph of the violinist, and a YouTube link to a video of violinists Maxine Kwok-Adams and Rhys Watkins performing the first movement from Henryk Wieniawski's "Études-Caprices for 2 violins, Op. 18."

- nethryk

Billy Idol, lead singer of the band Generation X.

Happy Birthday to Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860-1936), an Indian composer and musicologist who wrote the first modern treatise on Hindustani classical music, and who founded a number of schools and colleges for the systematic teaching of Hindustani music. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the musician and educator, printed by photogravure, and issued by India on September 1, 1961, Scott No. 344, plus an image of a photograph of Vishnu N. Bhatkhande, and a YouTube link to a short biographical video tribute to him.

- nethryk

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) was a German Romantic composer whose operas Der Freischütz, Euryanthe and Oberon greatly influenced the development of the Romantische Oper (Romantic opera) in Germany. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Weber, designed by Kurt Eigler, printed by lithography from a die engraved by Karel Wolf, and issued by East Germany (DDR) on July 5, 1952, Scott No. 102, Michel No. 310, plus an image of a portrait of Carl Maria von Weber by German opera tenor and artist Ferdinand Schimon (1794-1852), and a YouTube link to a recording of the Overture to Oberon, or The Elf King's Oath (1826), performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit conducting.

- nethryk