Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Moniuszko is best known for the scores he wrote for several operas and ballets.
The 60g value depicts a scene from the Polish national opera, "Halka," a tragic tale of love (aren't most operas?
) between the title character, a highlands girl who is jilted by the noble Janusz, in favor of the daughter of the Esquire.Here is a scene from the opera, featuring a wonderful mazurka. Enjoy.
Ted
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Ted, as a life-long devotee of opera, I really appreciate your bringing this to light. I first heard Halka in the Eighties in New York, and have treasured it ever since. It is an obscure masterpiece, unknown to even most opera fanatics.
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It's rarely performed, here in the States. The last performance I know of was in 2011 by the Pocket Opera of San Francisco/Berkeley, and, before that, I think you have to go back to the 80s performance in NY.
Ted
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Below is a nice themed opera card/sheet. Featuring Franz Liszt, the sheet was made to commemorate the 2nd Hungarian Philatelic Exhibition of May 6, 1934. The sheet is one of the key items for Hungary and is addressed to Ernst Kraus who was a famous German opera tenor. The card was carried on a special air mail flight from Debreczin to Budapest.
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Great card, Mitch! I've never seen a souvenir postcard of this type before.
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"The sheet is one of the key items for Hungary "
I've wanted that sheet for a long time. A few years back, I came across one from a dealer I regularly buy from, at a pretty good price -- 20% of Scott. Unfortunately, I hesitated too long; when I went to buy it, it was gone. I keep thinking, if you found one at that price, you're bound to find another. But, I haven't. I may have to just break down and pay a normal retail price.
Ted
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By the way, that caricature of Liszt, shown in my last post, does not exaggerate his performance demeanor. For an idea of what it must have been like to see him play, watch this virtuoso performance, by Valentina Lisitsa, of Liszt's, "Totentanz, for Piano and Orchestra." Classical music doesn't come much more exciting than this.
Ted
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In 2011, Romania issued this miniature/souvenir sheet for the 20th International George Enescu Festival and Competition.
Enescu (b1881-d1955) is Romania's most renowned composer. The festival is a no-holds-barred musical extravaganza bringing together the top (and I mean TOP) orchestras, conductors, and soloists, to celebrate the music of Romania's most famous son, and well as the music other Romanian and international composers.
Last year's festival included performances by the 4 top-ranked (by Gramophone magazine) orchestras: Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orch of Amsterdam.
So what's the hub-bub, Bub? To give you a taste, here is a clip from the 2015 Festival, showing the Romanian Youth Orchestra in an excerpt of Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody #1.
And, because the Festival does not provide YouTube clips any longer than 3 minutes or so, Here is a 1978 performance of the same piece, not from the Festival, but performed in the same auditorium, with the Bucharest "George Enescu" Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the most famous Romanian conductor, Sergiu Celibidache (for whom there, shamefully, is no stamp -- yet). When I watch Celi, with his facial expressions and body English (body Romanian?), not to mention his vocal outbursts during the performance, I have to think that , if there had been a movie of this, Celi would have been played by Danny Kaye.
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Not sure that it really counts, but it is a classic, Charlie Drake and his rendition of the 1812 overture.
For those who get blocked I have included alternate links.
this one did not work in Canada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZM33ynvBKg
This one did and may work if the first one gets blocked,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0BLK4rs0Sw
Ps I do enjoy classical and when in Uk always tuned into the proms, especially the last night. When I want to unwind it is Finlandia by Sibelius or some Delius, and Elkie Brooks and the LSO when in reflective mood.www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixlfEU5V3vc
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Now THAT's a one-man band...er, orchestra.
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Thanks for posting that video of Celibidache's conducting. I've never seen anything like it. Seiji Ozawa was staid in comparison. Danny Kaye would have starred in a cinematic version for sure.
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Thanks for starting this thread! A great union of two of my favorite things: concert/classical music and stamps!
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" A great union of two of my favorite things: concert/classical music and stamps! "
Or, as the commercial goes, two great tastes that taste great together.
Ted
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To help celebrate the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Festival in December 1986, Israel Post issued this sheetlet of 6 Tete-Beche Pairs, bottom 2 with Tabs.
Designed by A.Vanooijen.
In Offset Litho, perf 14
The stamps depict Jewish-Polish Violinist Bronislaw Huberman who founded the Orchestra, and the great Italian Conductor Arturo Toscanini who conducted the (then)Palestine Orchestra at their first concert in 1936 in Tel Aviv.
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To celebrate the Bi-Centennial of Mozart's death in 1991, Israel Post issued a single stamp in both sheet and booklet form on December 2nd.
Designed by N & M Eshel, in Offset Lithography. Perf 13.
I have shown the interesting Tete-Beche booklet cover and pane. This was Israel's 23rd Booklet.
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Allow me to invert the subject of this thread, Classical Music on Stamps, to give an example of a musical (operatic) reference to stamp collecting. I discovered this by chance last night while watching a DVD performance of Offenbach's intentionally silly opéra bouffe, La belle Hélène. In Act 1, Pâris, son of King Priam of Troy, gives an envelope to Calchas, high priest of Jupiter. The missive is from the goddess Venus and addressed to Hélène, Queen of Sparta. On taking the envelope, the first thing Calchas does is carefully remove the stamp from the envelope. Pâris asks of him, "Why are you doing that?" To which Calchas replies, "My queen (Hélène) collects stamps." This opera premiered in Paris in 1864 and was wildly popular. Obviously, stamp collecting was a big enough fad back then for the composer and librettist to poke fun at it, with the audience in on the reference. Such a line falls flat on modern ears.
Here's a short excerpt from Act 1 which I found on YouTube. Unfortunately, this comes after the envelope exchange.
And here, of course, is a French stamp honoring Offenbach:
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At 13 years of age, Huberman played the Brahms Violin Concerto, Op.77 with the composer in attendance. The performance brought tears to the eyes of Brahms, who then promised to compose a piece specially for the young boy. Brahms passed away the next year, before composing it.
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"DouglasGPerry: Here's a short excerpt from Act 1 which I found on YouTube. "
That looks like a fun one to watch in its entirety. I will look for it.
Ted
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Hey Doug that's a fascinating story. Sounds like they were lampooning stamp collecting as eccentric and "nerdy" much like today!
Ernie
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Today's decomposing composer is Claude Debussy (1862-1918), shown here on a pair of semi-postal/charity stamps, part of a set the surtax for which was used to aid unemployed intellectuals (Scott #B97 and B87A). Notice the 70+10 value was printed on a buff, or sepia-toned paper, in 1939; the 80+10 value was added a year later, printed on cream paper.
Debussy, the founding father of musical impressionism (but don't let him hear you say that), is one of the most highly regarded, as well as most influential composers of the late-19th/early-20th century music. His non-traditional harmony and music structure created highly visually evocative soundscapes which influenced many later composers.
The following video features my personal favorite piece of his, "Sirènes" -- the 3rd of his "Trois Nocturnes." Listening to this, you may believe, as I do, that the term "hauntingly beautiful" was coined after it.
The performance is by the inimitable Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, conducted by the legendary Bernard Haitink.
(Oh, and it is totally legal: "Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group International." )
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Ted, it's a delightful opera, full of wit and charm, and gorgeous music. I've put off exploring it for over 30 years, due to--I'm ashamed to say--my artistic snobbery. My loss, until a couple of days ago.
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12:30:19pm
I've been submitting requests to CSAC every year to issue a stamp for Beverly Sills. She is the cousin of my wife's Grandmother. I have a couple of Beverly Sills items in my collection. One is a set of Opera Stars from some Wallpaper issuing country. I can't think of it now here at work. I also have an autographed FDC of the Metropolitan Opera House that I won in an AFDCS Donation Auction which I majorly overpaid for but glad I have it. I will post images when I get a chance.
Bob
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Here's "Bubbles" Silverman in one of her most noted portrayals, as QE the 1st, in Donizetti's, "Roberto Devereux."
Ted
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"I've been submitting requests to CSAC every year to issue a stamp for Beverly Sills. "
We should get a campaign up. Next year is the 10th anniversary of her death. After that, we would have to wait until 2029, for the centenary of her birth. Although, with the lead times required to get a stamp approved, the latter date is more likely (if it is going to happen).
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01:21:16pm
Ted,
That would be great to get more people involved. Maybe CSAC will listen.
Bob
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Considering all he had to put up with in the worst years of Russian history, to produce something like this is simply remarkable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjPFSCW21j0
Written for his son.
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Guthrum, it took me a while to figure out, but the way to embed a YouTube video in your post is to copy only the video id (the part after the =), highlight it, as you would for a link, then click on the YouTube button.
Ted
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"Considering all he had to put up with in the worst years of Russian history, to produce something like this is simply remarkable."
Man, that is simply sublime, not at all what I normally "hear" when I think of Shostakovich. (Wish the uploader would have edited out those beginning seconds of the 3rd movement.)
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From Germany comes this 1999 issue for composer Richard Strauss, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death.
Strauss is, of course, most famous for a 1 minute 40 second snippet taken from his tone poem "Also Sprach Zarathustra," (you know the one 
). But, Rick was no one-trick pony. No, sir. His works are all fixtures of the standard repertoire, from his tone poems (Don Juan, Ein Heldenleben, Death and Transfiguration, et al), to his operas, such as Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, and the one depicted on this stamp, Salome.
Based on the play by Oscar Wilde, Salome caused quite a stir when it premiered in 1905 in Dresden. The eroticism and murderous themes on display proved too much for contemporary audiences. The opera was banned in London until 1907, and not given its first performance there until 1910. At its New York premiere, in 1907, wealthy patrons were so taken aback by the subject matter that further performances were forced to be cancelled.
So, what's all the hub-bub, bub?
Here's a clip from the 1975 filmed version, starring Teresa Stratas, with the Vienna Phiharmonic, under the baton of Karl Böhm. (Wait, at least, for the big reveal,at 3:50. hee-hee)
Ted
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Ted, I know virtually nothing about classical music but I've got a fun page of stamps going that is strictly for visually stunning, provacative, and other wise shocking stamps. That's clearly a prime candidate! Very cool stamp aesthically speaking.
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Didn't see any big reveal at 3:50 but all of the yelling would give me a headache. 
Ernie
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Ah, Shostakovich -- one of my favorite composers!
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"Didn't see any big reveal at 3:50"
I guess I'm just slow on the uptake. I figured the guy she was so passionately pleading with was dead; I didn't expect, though, that he was a disembodied head.
If this gave you a headache, stay away from Alban Berg.
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"Ah, Shostakovich -- one of my favorite composers!"
He got teased a lot as a kid - his friends calling him Shostapotter.
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(Shostakovich thread) Just imagining the conditions under which the Leningrad Symphony was played in August 1942 gives pause for thought. I must admit when I first heard the famous march tune I interpreted it as the stirring and joyful advance of the Red Army to relieve the city, rather than "the march of the invading German armies, to a tune of particular banality" (sic my CD programme notes). My 'Siege of Leningrad' page comprises a mere ten stamps, of which this one, of a driver on the Ice Road, is my favourite:
For those who prefer lighter fare, his Jazz Suite No.1 has a Kurt Weill feel to it; Tahiti Trot is a delightful variation on 'Tea For Two', and for UK readers, you will remember the Romance from 'The Gadfly' as the theme music to that memorable TV series of the 1980s, Reilly - Ace of Spies.
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11:16:28am
Scanned the St.Vincent Souvenir Sheet with Beverly Sills. Now I need to scan the FDC.
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As Doug Briscoe reminds us, on his Facebook page, today is the birthday of the great conductor David Crosby Pierre Monteux (1875-1964).
While I have not found a stamp commemorating him, I will post one with a connection to him and relate an anecdote concerning the two.
This is Igor Stravinsky, honored by the USA, in 1982, as part of the Great Americans series.
One of his most famous works is the music for the ballet, "The Rite of Spring." Written in 1913, the piece is known for its, let's say "unconventional", stylizings in tonality, rhythm, and dissonance. Monteux was the conductor for the premiere performance, in Paris. Between the effects of the raucous music and the wild and crazy dancing, it wasn't long before the audience became overcome with their emotional reactions -- some wildly enthusiastic, with others equally wildly offended.
Monteux believed that the trouble began when the two factions in the audience began attacking each other, but their mutual anger was soon diverted towards the orchestra: "Everything available was tossed in our direction, but we continued to play on".
Years later, when asked about the piece, Monteux said, "I did not like Le Sacre then. I have conducted it fifty times since. I do not like it now."
So, what's the hub-bub, bub? Listen for yourself. Here's Maestro Monteux conducting the French National Orchestra:
Ted
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One of the great pleasures of this topical pursuit is the serendipitous discovery of composers about whom I would otherwise not have heard. While working on my Poland Approvals book, 2 days ago, I happened across this set, from 1972 (Scott #1900-07), commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Stanislaw Moniuszko.
Moniuszko is best known for the scores he wrote for several operas and ballets.
The 60g value depicts a scene from the Polish national opera, "Halka," a tragic tale of love (aren't most operas? ) between the title character, a highlands girl who is jilted by the noble Janusz, in favor of the daughter of the Esquire.
Here is a scene from the opera, featuring a wonderful mazurka. Enjoy.
Ted
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
Ted, as a life-long devotee of opera, I really appreciate your bringing this to light. I first heard Halka in the Eighties in New York, and have treasured it ever since. It is an obscure masterpiece, unknown to even most opera fanatics.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
It's rarely performed, here in the States. The last performance I know of was in 2011 by the Pocket Opera of San Francisco/Berkeley, and, before that, I think you have to go back to the 80s performance in NY.
Ted
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
Below is a nice themed opera card/sheet. Featuring Franz Liszt, the sheet was made to commemorate the 2nd Hungarian Philatelic Exhibition of May 6, 1934. The sheet is one of the key items for Hungary and is addressed to Ernst Kraus who was a famous German opera tenor. The card was carried on a special air mail flight from Debreczin to Budapest.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
Great card, Mitch! I've never seen a souvenir postcard of this type before.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
"The sheet is one of the key items for Hungary "
I've wanted that sheet for a long time. A few years back, I came across one from a dealer I regularly buy from, at a pretty good price -- 20% of Scott. Unfortunately, I hesitated too long; when I went to buy it, it was gone. I keep thinking, if you found one at that price, you're bound to find another. But, I haven't. I may have to just break down and pay a normal retail price.
Ted
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
By the way, that caricature of Liszt, shown in my last post, does not exaggerate his performance demeanor. For an idea of what it must have been like to see him play, watch this virtuoso performance, by Valentina Lisitsa, of Liszt's, "Totentanz, for Piano and Orchestra." Classical music doesn't come much more exciting than this.
Ted
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
In 2011, Romania issued this miniature/souvenir sheet for the 20th International George Enescu Festival and Competition.
Enescu (b1881-d1955) is Romania's most renowned composer. The festival is a no-holds-barred musical extravaganza bringing together the top (and I mean TOP) orchestras, conductors, and soloists, to celebrate the music of Romania's most famous son, and well as the music other Romanian and international composers.
Last year's festival included performances by the 4 top-ranked (by Gramophone magazine) orchestras: Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orch of Amsterdam.
So what's the hub-bub, Bub? To give you a taste, here is a clip from the 2015 Festival, showing the Romanian Youth Orchestra in an excerpt of Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody #1.
And, because the Festival does not provide YouTube clips any longer than 3 minutes or so, Here is a 1978 performance of the same piece, not from the Festival, but performed in the same auditorium, with the Bucharest "George Enescu" Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the most famous Romanian conductor, Sergiu Celibidache (for whom there, shamefully, is no stamp -- yet). When I watch Celi, with his facial expressions and body English (body Romanian?), not to mention his vocal outbursts during the performance, I have to think that , if there had been a movie of this, Celi would have been played by Danny Kaye.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
Not sure that it really counts, but it is a classic, Charlie Drake and his rendition of the 1812 overture.
For those who get blocked I have included alternate links.
this one did not work in Canada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZM33ynvBKg
This one did and may work if the first one gets blocked,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0BLK4rs0Sw
Ps I do enjoy classical and when in Uk always tuned into the proms, especially the last night. When I want to unwind it is Finlandia by Sibelius or some Delius, and Elkie Brooks and the LSO when in reflective mood.www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixlfEU5V3vc
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
Now THAT's a one-man band...er, orchestra.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
Thanks for posting that video of Celibidache's conducting. I've never seen anything like it. Seiji Ozawa was staid in comparison. Danny Kaye would have starred in a cinematic version for sure.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
Thanks for starting this thread! A great union of two of my favorite things: concert/classical music and stamps!
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
" A great union of two of my favorite things: concert/classical music and stamps! "
Or, as the commercial goes, two great tastes that taste great together.
Ted
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
To help celebrate the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Festival in December 1986, Israel Post issued this sheetlet of 6 Tete-Beche Pairs, bottom 2 with Tabs.
Designed by A.Vanooijen.
In Offset Litho, perf 14
The stamps depict Jewish-Polish Violinist Bronislaw Huberman who founded the Orchestra, and the great Italian Conductor Arturo Toscanini who conducted the (then)Palestine Orchestra at their first concert in 1936 in Tel Aviv.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
To celebrate the Bi-Centennial of Mozart's death in 1991, Israel Post issued a single stamp in both sheet and booklet form on December 2nd.
Designed by N & M Eshel, in Offset Lithography. Perf 13.
I have shown the interesting Tete-Beche booklet cover and pane. This was Israel's 23rd Booklet.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
Allow me to invert the subject of this thread, Classical Music on Stamps, to give an example of a musical (operatic) reference to stamp collecting. I discovered this by chance last night while watching a DVD performance of Offenbach's intentionally silly opéra bouffe, La belle Hélène. In Act 1, Pâris, son of King Priam of Troy, gives an envelope to Calchas, high priest of Jupiter. The missive is from the goddess Venus and addressed to Hélène, Queen of Sparta. On taking the envelope, the first thing Calchas does is carefully remove the stamp from the envelope. Pâris asks of him, "Why are you doing that?" To which Calchas replies, "My queen (Hélène) collects stamps." This opera premiered in Paris in 1864 and was wildly popular. Obviously, stamp collecting was a big enough fad back then for the composer and librettist to poke fun at it, with the audience in on the reference. Such a line falls flat on modern ears.
Here's a short excerpt from Act 1 which I found on YouTube. Unfortunately, this comes after the envelope exchange.
And here, of course, is a French stamp honoring Offenbach:
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
At 13 years of age, Huberman played the Brahms Violin Concerto, Op.77 with the composer in attendance. The performance brought tears to the eyes of Brahms, who then promised to compose a piece specially for the young boy. Brahms passed away the next year, before composing it.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
"DouglasGPerry: Here's a short excerpt from Act 1 which I found on YouTube. "
That looks like a fun one to watch in its entirety. I will look for it.
Ted
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05:57:59pm
re: Classical Music on Stamps
Hey Doug that's a fascinating story. Sounds like they were lampooning stamp collecting as eccentric and "nerdy" much like today!
Ernie
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
Today's decomposing composer is Claude Debussy (1862-1918), shown here on a pair of semi-postal/charity stamps, part of a set the surtax for which was used to aid unemployed intellectuals (Scott #B97 and B87A). Notice the 70+10 value was printed on a buff, or sepia-toned paper, in 1939; the 80+10 value was added a year later, printed on cream paper.
Debussy, the founding father of musical impressionism (but don't let him hear you say that), is one of the most highly regarded, as well as most influential composers of the late-19th/early-20th century music. His non-traditional harmony and music structure created highly visually evocative soundscapes which influenced many later composers.
The following video features my personal favorite piece of his, "Sirènes" -- the 3rd of his "Trois Nocturnes." Listening to this, you may believe, as I do, that the term "hauntingly beautiful" was coined after it.
The performance is by the inimitable Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, conducted by the legendary Bernard Haitink.
(Oh, and it is totally legal: "Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group International." )
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
Ted, it's a delightful opera, full of wit and charm, and gorgeous music. I've put off exploring it for over 30 years, due to--I'm ashamed to say--my artistic snobbery. My loss, until a couple of days ago.
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Immediate Past President - West Essex Philatelic Society www.wepsonline.org
21 Mar 2016
12:30:19pm
re: Classical Music on Stamps
I've been submitting requests to CSAC every year to issue a stamp for Beverly Sills. She is the cousin of my wife's Grandmother. I have a couple of Beverly Sills items in my collection. One is a set of Opera Stars from some Wallpaper issuing country. I can't think of it now here at work. I also have an autographed FDC of the Metropolitan Opera House that I won in an AFDCS Donation Auction which I majorly overpaid for but glad I have it. I will post images when I get a chance.
Bob
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Here's "Bubbles" Silverman in one of her most noted portrayals, as QE the 1st, in Donizetti's, "Roberto Devereux."
Ted
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
"I've been submitting requests to CSAC every year to issue a stamp for Beverly Sills. "
We should get a campaign up. Next year is the 10th anniversary of her death. After that, we would have to wait until 2029, for the centenary of her birth. Although, with the lead times required to get a stamp approved, the latter date is more likely (if it is going to happen).
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Immediate Past President - West Essex Philatelic Society www.wepsonline.org
21 Mar 2016
01:21:16pm
re: Classical Music on Stamps
Ted,
That would be great to get more people involved. Maybe CSAC will listen.
Bob
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
Considering all he had to put up with in the worst years of Russian history, to produce something like this is simply remarkable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjPFSCW21j0
Written for his son.
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Guthrum, it took me a while to figure out, but the way to embed a YouTube video in your post is to copy only the video id (the part after the =), highlight it, as you would for a link, then click on the YouTube button.
Ted
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
"Considering all he had to put up with in the worst years of Russian history, to produce something like this is simply remarkable."
Man, that is simply sublime, not at all what I normally "hear" when I think of Shostakovich. (Wish the uploader would have edited out those beginning seconds of the 3rd movement.)
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
From Germany comes this 1999 issue for composer Richard Strauss, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death.
Strauss is, of course, most famous for a 1 minute 40 second snippet taken from his tone poem "Also Sprach Zarathustra," (you know the one ). But, Rick was no one-trick pony. No, sir. His works are all fixtures of the standard repertoire, from his tone poems (Don Juan, Ein Heldenleben, Death and Transfiguration, et al), to his operas, such as Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, and the one depicted on this stamp, Salome.
Based on the play by Oscar Wilde, Salome caused quite a stir when it premiered in 1905 in Dresden. The eroticism and murderous themes on display proved too much for contemporary audiences. The opera was banned in London until 1907, and not given its first performance there until 1910. At its New York premiere, in 1907, wealthy patrons were so taken aback by the subject matter that further performances were forced to be cancelled.
So, what's all the hub-bub, bub?
Here's a clip from the 1975 filmed version, starring Teresa Stratas, with the Vienna Phiharmonic, under the baton of Karl Böhm. (Wait, at least, for the big reveal,at 3:50. hee-hee)
Ted
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06:46:42pm
re: Classical Music on Stamps
Ted, I know virtually nothing about classical music but I've got a fun page of stamps going that is strictly for visually stunning, provacative, and other wise shocking stamps. That's clearly a prime candidate! Very cool stamp aesthically speaking.
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06:54:48pm
re: Classical Music on Stamps
Didn't see any big reveal at 3:50 but all of the yelling would give me a headache.
Ernie
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Ah, Shostakovich -- one of my favorite composers!
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"Didn't see any big reveal at 3:50"
I guess I'm just slow on the uptake. I figured the guy she was so passionately pleading with was dead; I didn't expect, though, that he was a disembodied head.
If this gave you a headache, stay away from Alban Berg.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
"Ah, Shostakovich -- one of my favorite composers!"
He got teased a lot as a kid - his friends calling him Shostapotter.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
(Shostakovich thread) Just imagining the conditions under which the Leningrad Symphony was played in August 1942 gives pause for thought. I must admit when I first heard the famous march tune I interpreted it as the stirring and joyful advance of the Red Army to relieve the city, rather than "the march of the invading German armies, to a tune of particular banality" (sic my CD programme notes). My 'Siege of Leningrad' page comprises a mere ten stamps, of which this one, of a driver on the Ice Road, is my favourite:
For those who prefer lighter fare, his Jazz Suite No.1 has a Kurt Weill feel to it; Tahiti Trot is a delightful variation on 'Tea For Two', and for UK readers, you will remember the Romance from 'The Gadfly' as the theme music to that memorable TV series of the 1980s, Reilly - Ace of Spies.
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Immediate Past President - West Essex Philatelic Society www.wepsonline.org
27 Mar 2016
11:16:28am
re: Classical Music on Stamps
Scanned the St.Vincent Souvenir Sheet with Beverly Sills. Now I need to scan the FDC.
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re: Classical Music on Stamps
As Doug Briscoe reminds us, on his Facebook page, today is the birthday of the great conductor David Crosby Pierre Monteux (1875-1964).
While I have not found a stamp commemorating him, I will post one with a connection to him and relate an anecdote concerning the two.
This is Igor Stravinsky, honored by the USA, in 1982, as part of the Great Americans series.
One of his most famous works is the music for the ballet, "The Rite of Spring." Written in 1913, the piece is known for its, let's say "unconventional", stylizings in tonality, rhythm, and dissonance. Monteux was the conductor for the premiere performance, in Paris. Between the effects of the raucous music and the wild and crazy dancing, it wasn't long before the audience became overcome with their emotional reactions -- some wildly enthusiastic, with others equally wildly offended.
Monteux believed that the trouble began when the two factions in the audience began attacking each other, but their mutual anger was soon diverted towards the orchestra: "Everything available was tossed in our direction, but we continued to play on".
Years later, when asked about the piece, Monteux said, "I did not like Le Sacre then. I have conducted it fifty times since. I do not like it now."
So, what's the hub-bub, bub? Listen for yourself. Here's Maestro Monteux conducting the French National Orchestra:
Ted
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