Argentine Tango semipostal tops music stamp poll

By Denise McCarty

A semipostal stamp showing tango dancers was voted the most popular music stamp of 2019 in a poll organized by Motivgruppe Musik, the International Philatelic Music Study Group.

Evangelina Cinthia Raffaelli won the group’s Yehudi Menuhin trophy for her design for this Argentine 50-peso+25p semipostal issued Aug. 26, 2019 (Scott B232).

In the press release from Motivgruppe Musik announcing the winners of the poll, Raffaelli said of her design: “The essence and culture of a country can be compressed in an image. To realize this in a space as small as a postage stamp and to globally communicate in this way the history of a country is for me a recurring challenge.”

Raffaelli has been part of the design team in the philatelic department of Correo Argentino since 2013 and has designed several previous stamps, some also related to music.

She said, “Due to the variety of topics that I encounter in my work, I feel that designing postage stamps is a dream came true.”

Motivgruppe Musik reports this stamp was among the 66 from 44 postal administrations competing in the poll. Collectors from 58 countries participated in the online voting.

The Argentine stamp received 222 votes, 6.87 percent of the total votes in the poll.

Coming in second with 197 votes was Chile’s stamp commemorating the Youth and Children’s Orchestras Foundation of Chile.

The foundation maintains 18 symphony orchestras across the country and supports the musical development of more than 1,000 young musicians with scholarships, according to Motivgruppe Musik.

Correos Chile issued this 370-peso stamp July 12, 2019 (Scott 1667). Mauricio Navarro Gonzalez designed this stamp, which shows Chilean composer Jorge Pena Hen (1928-1973) and a bass with Chile’s flag.

Ukraine’s stamp marking the 130th birth anniversary of Alexander Vertinsky (1889-1957) received 180 votes, placing third in the poll.

This 8-hryvnia stamp issued March 21, 2019 (Scott 1201), shows Vertinsky, a singer, composer and actor dressed as the sad clown Pierrot. Vasyl Vasylenko designed the stamp.

Motivgruppe Musik has conducted an annual poll to determine the most popular music stamp of the year since 1980.

The trophy is awarded in memory of violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin (1916-99), who was the patron of the Philatelic Music Circle from 1969 until his death.

Motivgruppe Musik was founded in 1959. Affiliated with the American Topical Association and the German Philatelic Society, it has approximately 250 members in 35 countries.

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