Saturday, January 6, 2018

Athens, Greece: Christos Lambrakis Concert Hall


From the wiki page for the Athens concert hall complex I was able to determine that the organ in the Christos Lambrakis Hall was built by Klais, in Germany. From their site I was able to determine the manufacture date, 1993. The site also includes a specification. The concert hall complex was built in 1991 but has added two additional performance spaces since then. The organ in the main hall is the largest in Greece. This stamp (Scott 1774) was issued in 1993 as part of a set of 4 featuring major buildings in Athens. It is the low-value of the set. Other stamps show a museum, a library and a hospital.
Image from Klais website

Lisbon, Portugal: Cathedral


This stamp is part of the 2014 set of cathedral stamps issued by Portugal. This stamp shows the nave and chancel area of the Lisbon Cathedral. En-chamade (horizontal) pipes are visible on both sides of the chancel area. Lisbon has been an episcopal area since the 4th century. The first structure after the end of Arab rule was erected in the 12th century. Earthquakes have plagued the area at various time including the 14th and 16th. A terrible quake in 1755 destroyed the main chapel. The present structure is a product of the early 20th century showing Roman, Arab and medieval influences.


The chancel area has two independent organs. The gospel-side organ was built by Flentrop in 1964 and was restored in 2012.  This blogger tells us that two organs by Joaquim Peres Fontanes were installed at the beginning of the 20th centruary: twin organs on either side of the chancel. In 1967 one organ was removed to Santa Egracia Church. The rest of the blog post deals with that instrument, except to tell us that the organ that remained in the cathedral was not playable.

The remaining "twin" Peres Fontanes organ.

The Flentrop organ of 1964/2012.



Venezuela, Christmas angels

Venezuela issued this stamp in 1967 as part of a set for Christmas. It features a reproduction of Stephan Lochner's La Virgen del Rosal (Virgin in a rose arbor). The original painting hangs in the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, Germany. Painted in 1450, it is a small work, suited for personal or home devotional use. Angels surround the central figure, and each holding musical instruments. Almost obscured by the denomination, the angel at LL is holding a portativ. This angel and its instrument are quite clear in the image of the original painting. This stamp (Scot C976) was for airmail postage.


Netherlands: Drei Pruiken Draaiorgel



Netherlands issued a set of two stamps in 2014, the European Year for musical instruments. The stamps celebrate the Drei Pruiken Draaiorgal, a famous street organ in that country. The instrument is characterized by three be-wigged statues as part of the decoration.

Information about the organ from Hans Timmermann's site:
De firma werd in 1875 opgericht door Orgelbouwer Leon Warnis uit België Oorspronkelijk verhuurde de firma alleen maar draaiorgels, later kwamen daar ook reparaties en nieuwbouw bij. In 1932 nam de familie Perlee de onderneming over en begon een orgelmakers werkplaats in de Westerstraat 119 in Amsterdam, waar deze zich nu nog bevindt.

Het draaiorgel de "Drie Pruiken" werd in 1953 uit de resten van een oud Gavioli-Orgel gebouwd.
Het was de eerste nieuwbouw van de firma na de 2e wereldoorlog. De naam is ontleend aan de drie figuren op de voorzijde die historische kostuums en grote pruiken dragen. De drie pruiken is nog volledig intact. Er wordt zelfs geregeld nieuwe muziek speciaal voor dit bekende orgel gecomponeerd. De drie pruiken is eigendom van Museum Speelklok in Utrecht. Dit museum beheert de grootste collectie straatorgels uit de twintigste eeuw.

The company was founded in 1875 by Orgelbouwer Leon Warnis from Belgium Originally, the company rented only spin organizers, later arrived there including repairs and new construction. In 1932, the Perlee family took over the company and began one- organ workmaker's workshop in the Westerstraat 119 in Amsterdam, where it is still located.

The rotary organ "Drie Wruiken" was built in 1953 from the remains of an old Gavioli organ.
It was the company's first new building after the 2nd World War. The name is derived from the three figures on the front which carry historical costumes and big wigs. The three wigs are still completely intact. Even new music is specially composed for this well-known organ. The three wigs are owned by Museum Speelklok in Utrecht. This museum manages the largest collection of street organizers of the twentieth century.


Lithuania, Coat of Arms



Lithuania has issued several stamps which feature the coats of arms of various regional areas. In 1999 the post issued a set of three. The high-value in this set of three was the coat of arms for Rokiskis. This town of some 16,000 is in the northeast of the country. The arms on Scott 644 is comprised of 4 sections, three of which represent ruling families in the history of the area. The LL quadrant features an organ, specifically that in the St Matthias Church in Rokiskis. The instrument in the church doesn't look much like the representation on the stamp.

This site for Lithuanian organs does not have a listing for Rokiskis (yet).

I was able to find this information about the Matthias Church, including the organ:

The church was finished in 1877, but the interiors. Soon count Tyzenhauzas died. His sister Marija/Marry continued financing and supervising the works. She decided to slightly rebuild the church from the outside too - to make it even more grandeur. She met an Austrian architect Werner Georg from Tyrol, then an architect of Vienna, who prepared a project. The main altar was made in Paris in the workshop of French P. Puossielgue – Rusand. Wooden canopy was made in Belgium, the workshop of Goyers. Much of other altars were too made by Goyers and P. Puossielgue – Rusand workshops. The organ was made by Germans Walcker, workshop in Ludwigsburg, Württemberg. Czech from Austria - Rudolf Liehmann (a son of Antonín Liehmann - the teacher of Antonín Dvořák) was invited to play the organ. With him, more Czechs came to Rokiškis and the musical school was was opened in the town, an orchestra started, that played concerts every weekend. By the way, R. Liehmann married in Rokiškis and stayed to the end of his life there. He is buried in Rokiškis cemetery. 




Aitutaki: Christmas, angels



The island nation of Aitutaki (part of the Cook Island archipelago in the South Pacific) issued a set of 8 stamps in 1994 for Christmas featuring various religious paintings. Two sets of four stamps were denominated 85c and 90c. They featured various representations of the birth of Jesus: Mary, magi, angels, etc. These stamps saw little postal use and are generally collected as attached blocks of four stamps. On the 85c block, the UR stamp (Scott 508b) shows angels on the perimeter, holding musical instruments. One of the angels is holding a portativ organ. Memling painted several versions of the nativity story on various commissions. This particular painting is known as the Donne Triptych and is at the National Gallery, London, UK. It was completed in 1478.