Category: Stamps

Stamp of the Month: June 2017


Johann Wenzel Stamitz

Czechoslovakia 12.5.1957


The Bohemian composer and violinist Johann Wenzel Stamitz was born in Deutschbrod on 17 June 1717th He died on 30 March 1757 at the age of only 39 years in Mannheim. 2017 the 300th anniversary of his birthday.
 
Johann Wenzel Stamitz studied in Jihlava and Prague. In 1741 he came as a traveling violinist virtuoso to Mannheim. Elector Carl Theodor von der Pfalz hired him for his court orchestra and appointed him in 1743 concertmaster of the Mannheim court orchestra. In 1750 he became director of the court music. Already in 1747 Stamitz builded the violin class at the Mannheim court orchestra. Until today, he is considered to be the founder of the famous Mannheim School which had great influence on the development of the concert symphony and the orchestral culture in Europe.



 



 
The video shows the Chamber Orchestra Seoul under the direction of Charles Neidich performing the Clarinet Concerto in B flat Major by Johann Stamitz. Soloist: Jaehee Choi.

Stamp of the Month: May 2017


Ella Fitzgerald
Bulgaria April 2017

Ella Fitzgerald was born on April 25, 1917 in Newport News, Virginia. She died on June 15, 1996 in Beverly Hills, California. This year she would have been 100 years old.
 
Ella Fitzgerald made her debut as a singer with seventeen in a talent contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. In 1935, Chick Webb hired her for his big band. In 1941 she began her solo career and became one of the greatest jazz singers.


Her repertoire ranged from swing to bebop, blues, bossa nova, samba, gospel and hip-hop to jazzy Christmas songs. Her trademark was scat singing, which was co-developed by her. To date, none has the lightness of phrasing and her remarkable vocal range of three octaves: both allowed her to improvise with her voice just like a jazz instrumentalist. Fitzgerald’s best recordings include their songbooks of the most important American composers, with which she made monuments. Another important recording is the complete recording of the opera “Porgy and Bess”, which she recorded with Louis Armstrong. Ella Fitzgerald won 13 Grammys and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1987.
 



 
 
The video shows excerpts of a studio recording of German ZDF TV for the program “Ella Fitzgerald – The First Lady of Jazz” (1974).

Stamp of the Month: April 2017


Scott Joplin
USA 9.7.1983

Scott Joplin was born between June 1867 and January 1868 in Linden, Texas. He died on April 1, 1917 in New York City. 2017 marks his 100th memorial anniversary.
 
 
The American composer Scott Joplin played violin as a child and received piano lessons from the age of seven. Already in the age of fifteen he was traveling as a pub pianist in Texas and Louisiana. For a time he lived in St. Louis, where he played in honky-tonks and saloons.


From 1895 he composed numerous pieces, mainly for his own use as well as for his vocal group “The Texas Medley Quartet”. In addition to around 80 Rags he composed some works for the stage. Scott Joplin is considered the “Finisher of Ragtime”, a jazz style, which connects elements of the romantic piano music with African-American folklore.
 



 
The video shows the jazz band “Tuba Skinny” from New Orleans with Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag”. Formed in in 2009, Tuba Skinny has steadily evolved from a loose collection of street musicians into a solid ensemble dedicated to bringing the traditional New Orleans sound to audiences around the world.

Stamp of the Month: March 2017


Zoltán Kodály
Hungary 16.7.2007

Zoltán Kodály was born on 16 December 1882 in Kecskemét. He died on 6 March 1967 in Budapest. 2017 is the 50th anniversary of his death.



The Hungarian composer, music teacher and ethnomusicologist Zoltán Kodály learned early to play the violin and studied composition at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest from 1900 onwards. From 1907 he taught music theory and composition there. Kodály dealt with fundamental questions of music education and has authored numerous books. Together with his friend Béla Bartók he collected more than 3500 Hungarian folk songs, which he examined scientifically. Since 1963 Zoltán Kodály was President of the International Folk Music Council (IFMC) and 1961-1967 editor of the journal “Studia musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae”.
 



 
 
The video shows the Rajkó Orchestra performing at the Synagogue in Budapest. The composition “Dances of Galánta” is influenced by the music of Sinti and Roma.

Stamp of the Month: February 2017




Gioachino Rossini
San Marino 12.2.1999

Gioachino Rossini was born on 29 February 1792 in Pesaro. He died on 13 November 1868 in Passy near Paris. 2017 his birthday comes up for the 225th time.

The Italian composer Gioachino Rossini is one of the world’s most important opera composers. In addition to around 50 operas he composed instrumental music, a number of cantatas, hymns and choruses and spiritual works. His operas “The Barber of Seville” and “Cinderella” are part of the standard repertoire of almost all opera houses.
 

 
 
The video shows the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria under the direction of Andrés Orozco-Estrada with the overture to Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” at the Summer Night Gala 2012 in Grafenegg.


British Music Icon: David Bowie

The series “British music icons” of Royal Mail will continue on March 14 with a set of stamps commemorating David Bowie.
 

The six stamps show the covers from following albums: Hunky Dory (1971), Aladdin Sane (1973), Heroes (1977), Let’s Dance (1983), Earthling (1997) and Blackstar (2016).
 

The sheet of four is showing pictures of live concerts from various tours: “Ziggy Stardust Tour” (1973), “The Stage Tour” (1978), “Serious Moonlight Tour” (1983), “A Reality Tour” (2004) and “Glass Spider Tour” (1987 / sheet margin).
 
The stamps can be pre-ordered from the Royal Mail Online Shop.

Opening of the Elbphilharmonie

After five years of planning (2001-2006) and a ten-year construction period (2007-2016) the
new Hamburg concert hall was opened on 11 January 2017 with an impressive concert.
 

The stamp depicts the building, which is considered one of the most
modern, largest and acoustically best concert halls in the world.
 

The video shows a part of the live broadcast of the opening concert performed
by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock.
 
Discover the new Concert Hall
 
By the way: The organ of the Elbphilharmonie was built by the organ builder company of our member Hans-Gerd Klais of Bonn.

Stamp of the Month: January 2017




Arturo Toscanini
Italy 25.3.1967

Arturo Toscanini was born on March 25, 1867 in Parma. He died on January 16, 1957 in New York. 2017 is the 150th anniversary of his birth and the 60th anniversary of his death.

1895 Toscanini got a job in Turin and was allowed to conduct the first performance of Puccini’s opera “La Bohème” in 1896. In 1898 he went to La Scala in Milan and in 1908 to the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He has conducted many concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic and was conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1926. Until 1937, he influenced the Salzburg Festival by conducting essential concerts and opera productions. After his emigrating to the USA he led the NBC Symphony Orchestra, with whom he recorded – among others – all nine Beethoven symphonies. In 1946 he conducted the opening concert of the rebuilt La Scala. Toscanini is generally considered one of the greatest orchestra conductors of his time and was praised especially for his interpretations of works by Beethoven and Verdi.
 

 
 
The video shows the NBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Arturo Toscanini with a performance of the overture to Verdi’s opera “La forza del Destino”. The orchestra was established specifically for Toscanini.


Stamp of the Month: December 2016

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Kyrgyzstan 8.9.2016

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg. He died on December 5, 1791 in Vienna. In December 2016 we commemorate his 225th death anniversary.
 
From his father Mozart early received intensive musical training, traveled as a “child prodigy” throughout Europe and in 1769 became court music director of the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg. Today, Mozart is known primarily for his operas and his orchestral music. Less well known is Mozart’s sacred music that – with few exceptions – long led a shadowy existence. It was considered not liturgy, too worldly and operatic. Among the approximately 80 works are 15 full masses, several oratorios, vespers and litanies. Nearly all church works were created during his Salzburg period 1756 -1781. Mozart composed these mainly for services in Salzburg Cathedral on behalf of his Archiepiscopal masters.
 



 
 
The video shows Mozart’s “Mater Amabilis” for soprano and mixed choir, performed by the Polymnia Choral Society Melrose, Massachusetts (Soloist: Teresa Wakim)