Every year, numerous new stamps are issued on the theme of music. The list of new issues published in the members-only-section of our website is updated several times per month.
30.12.25: Austria / Finland / France / Germany
21.01.26: Monaco
24.01.2026 Poland /Liechtenstein
27.01.2026 Slovakia
28.01.2026 Estonia / Ukraine
29.01.2026 Italy
05.02.2026 Czech Republic / Uruguay / Hungary / Romania
06.02.2026 Sweden / Monaco
07.02.2026 French Polynesia
13.02.2026 Croatia / Russia / Guinea Bissau / Djibouti
Every year, numerous new stamps are issued on the theme of music. The list of new issues published in the members-only-section of our website is updated several times per month.
10.1.26: Kasachstan
23.1.26: Guinea-Bissau / Liechtenstein / Sierra Leone
7.2.26: Central African Republic
15.2.26: Albania / France / Lithuania
16.2.26: Djibouti / Guinea / Sierra Leone
The French-American coloratura
soprano Lily Pons (Alice Joséphine Pons) was born on April 12, 1898, in Draguignan, near Cannes. She died 50 years ago, on February 13, 1976, in Dallas, Texas.
Lily Pons initially studied piano at the Paris Conservatoire and won first prize at the age of 15. Encouraged by the soprano Dyna Beumer, she began her vocal studies in Paris and New York in 1925. She made her operatic debut in 1928 in Mulhouse in the title role of Léo Delibes’ opera “Lakmé,” famous for its “Bell Song.”
The Italian tenor and impresario Giovanni Zenatello discovered the singer during an opera performance in the French provinces and suggested her to the general director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York as the successor to coloratura soprano Amelita Galli-Curci. On January 3, 1931, Lily Pons made her unannounced but highly successful debut at the Met as Lucia in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.”
Lily Pons remained associated with the Metropolitan Opera from 1931 to 1960. During this time, she performed there almost 300 times in 10 different roles, primarily as Lucia and Lakmé, as Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” and as Rosina in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” She also appeared as a guest artist at many major opera houses, performed as a concert singer until 1973, and made numerous recordings. Since the 1950s, she had been a frequent guest on radio and television shows, where she presented popular music alongside the classical repertoire.
St. Vincent 5.11.1997
The video shows Lily Pons performing at Carnegie Hall in 1947
with the “Bell Aria” from the opera “Lakmé” by Léo Delibes.
The German writer, composer, conductor, music critic, and painter Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann was born on January 24, 1776, in Königsberg. He died on June 25, 1822, in Berlin. January 2026 will mark the 250th anniversary of his birth.
Hoffmann, who changed his third given name, Wilhelm, to Amadeus in 1805 out of admiration for Mozart, is considered a driving force of Romanticism.
Until 1806, the trained lawyer worked as a Prussian civil servant at various courts, pursuing his artistic passions only in his free time. Among other things, he was involved in establishing a “Musical Society” in Warsaw and, as its conductor, was able to perform his own works. During the French occupation of Warsaw, he moved to Berlin. In 1808, he briefly served as Kapellmeister (music director) and, from 1810, as assistant director, dramaturge, and set painter at the Bamberg Court Theatre. Alongside this, he continued to compose, write, and draw. He contributed music criticism to the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (General Musical Newspaper), but earned his living primarily as a music teacher.
In 1812, he went to Dresden as a theater conductor. There, in 1814, he completed his opera “Undine,” which premiered in Berlin in 1816.
From 1815 onward, with the collection of stories “Fantasiestücke in Callot’s Manier” (Fantasy Pieces in Callot’s Manner), he finally achieved literary success. When E.T.A. Hoffmann died in Berlin in 1822, he left behind more than 50 novels and short stories, a dozen plays, and 20 instrumental and vocal works. Many of his works have been adapted for other operas, ballets, films, and literary works. The most famous musical works based on his texts are Offenbach’s opera “The Tales of Hoffmann” and Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker.”
Cuba 15.6.1967
The video shows excerpts from the ballet “The Nutcracker” from a current production
by the Grand Classic Ballet.
On December 22, 2025, the British singer, composer, pianist, and guitarist Christopher “Chris” Anton Rea died. Chris Rea was born on March 4, 1951, in Middlesbrough. He is best known for the song “Driving Home for Christmas”. He came up with the idea for it in 1978 while stuck in a traffic jam during the pre-Christmas season. Released in 1986, the song has become a modern Christmas classic in the 2000s.
Every year, numerous new stamps are issued on the theme of music. The list of new issues published in the members-only-section of our website is updated several times per month.
28.4.25: Guinea-Bissau / Liberia / Sierra Leone
30.5.25: Central African Republic / Djibouti / Guinea / Guinea-Bissau / Sierra Leone
5.7.25: Central African Republic / France / Guinea / Sierra Leone
15.10.25: Frankreich / Guinea / Zentralafrikanische Republik
14.12.25: Dschibuti / Guinea
The German actress and singer Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef was born on December 28, 1925, in Ulm. She died on February 1, 2002, in Berlin. December 2025 will mark the 100th anniversary of her birth.
Hildegard Knef began an apprenticeship as an animator at UFA in Berlin in 1942. After a trial audition, she received a scholarship to attend the film school in Babelsberg, where she also studied
dance and singing. In 1945, she was engaged at the “Tribüne” theater on Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm. Her leading role in the first German post-war film, “Die Mörder sind unter uns” (The Murderers Are Among Us), made her known abroad as a character actress in 1946, and her fame increased further in 1951 due to the scandal surrounding a brief nude scene in the film “Die Sünderin” (The Sinner). Her leading role in the film “Entscheidung vor Morgengrauen” (Decision Before Dawn), which was also successful in the USA, led to several roles in American films, in which she also had singing parts. Her decisive breakthrough, however, came with the role of Ninotchka in the Broadway musical “Silk Stockings,” in which she performed a total of 675 times between 1954 and 1956. After releasing several jazz records in England and France, she once again attracted attention in Germany. With the song “Mack the Knife” from the film adaptation of “The Threepenny Opera,” she made it into the German charts and launched her second career as a German chanson singer in 1963 with the album “That’s Life.” She appeared several times on German television shows with her own lyrics and embarked on her first concert tour in 1966.
The song “Für mich soll’s rote Rosen regnen” (It Should Rain Red Roses for Me) became her signature song in 1968. Despite her smoky voice, Hildegard Knef was named Best German Singer in 1968, and Ella Fitzgerald once called her “the best singer without a voice.” In addition to further recordings, Hildegard Knef published her autobiography, “Der geschenkte Gaul” (The Gift Horse), in 1970, which became an international bestseller. After battling cancer, she made a successful stage comeback in Berlin in 1987 in the musical “Cabaret.” Besides numerous film awards and lifetime achievement accolades, Hildegard Knef also received several national and international music awards, including the 1999 award for the most successful jazz production of the year for her album “17 Millimeter.”
Germany 27.12.2002
The video shows Hildegard Knef on March 1, 1980, performing her hit song “Für mich soll’s rote Rosen regnen” on the German television show “Auf los geht’s los”.
American singer Tina Turner (Anna Mae Bullock) was born on November 26, 1939, in Brownsville, Tennessee. She died on May 24, 2023, in Küsnacht on Lake Zurich.
Tina Turner’s singing in the church choir was already noticeable as a child. In 1955, she met musician and talent scout Ike Turner in St. Louis, who initially hired her as a background singer for
his “Kings of Rhythm”. As “Ike and Tina Turner”, the two were among the most impressive live acts for many years. Their international breakthrough came in 1969 when they were booked as the opening act for several Rolling Stones concerts. However, their marriage, which began in 1962, ended in divorce. Starting out as a solo artist proved difficult, as Tina Turner was considered an aging black singer in the music scene, and no one believed in her anymore. Australian producer Roger Davies suggested to record electronic music, which was very popular in England at the time. With the resulting album, “Private Dancer,” Tina Turner made an incredible comeback in 1984. The album sold over 20 million copies, and the song “What’s Love Got to Do with It” won three Grammy Awards. At the age of 45, she returned to the stage and instantly became a global superstar.
In 1988, she broke all previous attendance records when she was cheered by 180,000 fans in Rio de Janeiro. Her studio albums “Break Every Rule” (1986), “Foreign Affair” (1989), “Wildest Dreams” (1996), and “Twenty Four Seven” (1999) also became multi-platinum sellers. In 2008, at the age of 69, Tina Turner embarked on a world tour, after which she announced her retirement from performing. Tina Turner received a total of eight Grammy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and two World Music Awards. In 1991, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with her ex-husband, and again in 2021 as a solo artist.
Togo 5.7.2019
The video shows Tina Turner performing her hit “The Best” from the album “Foreign Affair” (1989). However, the song is a cover version; the original is by British singer Bonnie Tyler.
The Austrian composer Johann Baptist Strauss was born on October 25, 1825, in St. Ulrich. He died on June 3, 1899, in Vienna. October 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of his birth.
Johann Strauss was nicknamed “Son” to distinguish him from his father of the same name, who feared competition within his own family and therefore actually envisioned a civil service career for his sons. Against his father’s wishes, his mother enabled young Johann to study music. Already the son’s very first performance in a Viennese concert café was a huge success. After his father’s death, he merged the two orchestras.
In 1848, Johann Strauss sympathized with the insurgents of the German Revolution. This led to some of his compositions being banned, and despite his popularity, he temporarily fell out of favor at
Austria 18.1.2025
the royal and imperial court. In 1863, he was nevertheless appointed music director of the Imperial and Royal Court Ball. From then on, he also composed dance music for the court balls he conducted,
Serbia 27.6.2025
with sheet music of the waltz
“The Beautiful Blue Danube”
including the waltz “The Beautiful Blue Danube” in 1867, which is now considered the unofficial anthem of Austria.
In 1864, Johann Strauss met Jacques Offenbach, who introduced him to operetta. In 1871, he performed his first operetta, “Indigo and the 40 Robbers,” in Vienna, and in 1874, his arguably best-known operetta, “Die Fledermaus,” premiered at the Theater an der Wien. The work was added to the repertoire of the Vienna State Opera in 1894 and is the only operetta performed there to this day.
The oeuvre of the composer, internationally known as the “Waltz King,” includes twenty operettas, around 500 waltzes, polkas, and marches, as well as a ballet and an opera.
The video shows André Rieu and his orchestra performing the waltz “The Beautiful Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss II., recorded live on September 16, 2011 in Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace with dancers from the famous Austrian dance school Elmayer.
