Magyar Posta is celebrating the reopening of the renovated building of the Hungarian State Opera House by issuing a promotional personalised stamp. Thirty-five thousand copies of the philatelic novelty made by printing on the label part of the Your Own Stamp personalised stamp were produced by the banknote printing company Pénzjegynyomda. It can be purchased at Filaposta and designated post offices or ordered from Magyar Posta’s online store from 12 March 2022.
The Hungarian State Opera House is one of Budapest’s most important historic buildings dating from the 19th century. It was designed by Miklós Ybl and built in neo-Renaissance style. Renowned Hungarian artists, such as Mór Than, Károly Lotz and Bertalan Székely, contributed to the highly ornamented interior spaces. Construction began in 1875 and the Royal Hungarian Opera House was inaugurated on 27 September 1884. In the summer of 2017, the
Opera House began a planned closure, originally only for the reconstruction of the stage technology, the replacement and extension of the electrical networks and some other investments. Meanwhile, the decision was taken to fully renovate the building and, after works lasting nearly five years, the Opera House on Andrássy Avenue will reopen to the public on 12 March 2022.
The label of the stamp shows how the Opera House looked originally and how it does today. The former auditorium is depicted in the background printing of the first day cover and the foreground shows the monumental fresco “The Apotheosis of Music” by Károly Lotz with the large chandelier above the Opera House’s auditorium. The postmark features a stylised image of the iconic sphinx statue at the main entrance to the building.
