Results announced for 2023’s most popular music stamp

By David Hartwig

A stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of an opera festival in Verona, Italy, placed first in a poll for the top music stamp issue of 2023, conducted by Motivgruppe Musik, the International Philatelic Music Group.

Italy issued the nondenominated 100th Arena di Verona Opera Festival stamp (Scott 3953) June 16, 2023. In the press release announcing the contest winners, Motivgruppe Musik said that the design of the stamp was inspired by the posters used to advertise the first festivals at the arena. The graphics department of the Fondazione Arena di Verona (Verona Arena Foundation) designed the stamp and was awarded the Yehudi Menuhin trophy.

The opera festival has been held annually in Verona, Italy, since 1913. The festival attracts spectators from around the globe, and the arena’s open-air setting allows the audience to view performances under the stars. Built in 30 A.D., the arena could originally seat 30,000 people and today can hold 22,000.

The opera festival stamp received 7.28 percent of the total votes in the poll.

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