(Bosnia and Herzegovina)
“My kingdom is in the air …” this Beethoven quote is on the edge of the sheet of the special stamps for the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven, which were issued on December 16, 2020 by the Croatian Post in Mostar. Beethoven’s deeply rooted closeness to nature inspired the designer to subtly complement the famous Beethoven portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler with a barn swallow and a robin inspiring the master with their singing.
As expected, the issues for the Beethoven anniversary 2020 formed the focus of the stamp issues on the subject of music. Hence it is no wonder that three issues with a picture of Beethoven can be found in the first five places in the vote for the most popular music stamp.
First place with 176 votes (6.05 %) went to the stamp issued by Croatian Post in Mostar, designed by Manlio Napoli.
Manlio Napoli was born in Palermo, Italy in 1972. After graduating in literature, he worked as a graphic designer for various agencies in his hometown. Since 2006 Napoli has been living and working as a freelancer in Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The commemorative stamp for the 200th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi was the first stamp he designed for the Croatian Post in Mostar in 2013. The issue for the Beethoven anniversary, for which he is now being awarded the Yehudi Menuhin Trophy 2021, is his tenth stamp for this postal administration.
This year there was a choice of 66 stamps from 51 postal administrations. Collectors from 59 countries took part in the online voting. With 155 votes (5.33 %), the first stamp in the new series “Austria – Land of Music” reached the second place. The stamp designed by Kirsten Lubach was issued by the Austrian Post on March 18, 2020.
With 148 votes (5.09 %) there is another stamp with Josef Karl Stieler’s Beethoven portrait in third place. The stamp, which was issued in Hungary on March 4th, was designed by Orsolya Kara.