The First Latvian Opera - Banuta

On the 3rd of July 2020 Latvijas Pasts is releasing a new postage stamp in honour of the opera Baņuta staged by composer Alfrēds Kalniņs (1879–1951), as this year marks the 100th anniversary of its premiere at the Latvian National Opera.

The print run of the new stamp is 50,000 copies and its face value is € 1.00, which corresponds to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams within Latvia. The release of the stamp is accompanied by the issue of a special cover with a print run of 1,000 copies. The philatelic releases have been designed by the artist Lilija Dinere.

In the visual presentation of the stamp and the cover the artist used a reproduction of the scenic design Valguša pils (Valgudis’ Castle) (1940) created by set designer Jānis Kuga for the opera Baņuta and stored in the Literature and Music Museum collection; a photo from the first act of the opera Baņuta (1920) stored in the archives of the Latvian National Opera and Ballet; and materials from the Misiņš Library of the Academic Library of the University of Latvia.

Baņuta is the first Latvian national opera, created more than 100 years ago by composer Alfrēds Kalniņš, based on a libretto composed in 1903 by architect and writer Artūrs Krūmiņš (1879–1969). The 28th of May 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the premiere of the opera at the Latvian National Opera. Baņuta is considered a symbol of Latvian classical music.