Jaime Laredo on Bolivian Stamps

Jaime Laredo on Bolivian Stamps

As a citizen of the United States, I don’t think about people on postage stamps being alive. I do realize that the Queen of England is on millions (probably billions) of stamps by this point. However, the custom of only featuring dead people on stamps seems like a pretty good rule (problematic sometimes, e.g. Legends of American Music). Yet, in many other countries, they actually do feature famous people and national heroes on stamps while they are alive.

Jaime Laredo

The violin virtuoso and orchestral conductor Jaime Laredo was born in the Bolivian city of Cochamba in the Andes mountains in 1941. He was a child prodigy and began playing in public at the age of 5. In 1948, he moved to the United States to study with the great Antonio de Grassi. He would later attend the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he would study with Ivan Galamian.

Bolvia, 1960

Laredo won the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Competition in 1959, which launched his international career. He made his Carnegie Hall debut recital in 1960 to rave reviews. Since then, he has been a soloist with nearly ever major orchestra in the world. He is also quite well-known for his chamber music performances and recordings, working with musicians including Joseph Kalichstein, Sharon Robinson (Laredo’s wife) and Glenn Gould. In 1992, he won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for a recording of the Brahms Piano Quartets with Isaac Stern, Emauel Ax, and Yo-Yo Ma.

As a conductor, Laredo was the artist advisor and guest conductor for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra. He currently is on the staff of the Cleveland Institute of Music and is the conductor and music director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.

The Stamps

Bolivia, 1960, Air Mail Stamps
Scott Numbers: BO C218 (700 correos); BO C220 (900)
BO C221 (1,800); BO C222 (4,000)

After Laredo came to international attention following his victory in the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Competition in 1959, his home country of Bolivia commemorated Laredo on a series of postage stamps. In August of 1960, the series of regular commemorative stamps and Air Mail stamps were issued. The stamps were of two designs with different denominations in different colors. The regular commemorative stamps show Laredo playing violin standing facing forward. The Air Mail stamps are more of an action shot, with the camera placed behind him, capturing the violin from the other side while he plays.

Notice on all of the stamps there is a small bit of musical notation. Three notes on a treble clef: A, D, and C. According to J. Posell in the F. A. P Journal, September 1963, these three notes are also known in solfège (a musical education method) as La, Re, and Do. When they are combined together, they spell the name Laredo.

1966, Bolivia
Coronilla Heroinas Series

The stamps would appear again in 1966, when they were a part of a series called Coronilla Heroinas. These stamps had an overprint with a new value and a designation of the series.

Laredo continues to concertize after a career that now spans sixty years. However, I thought it would be great to hear a little from the early prat of his career when the stamps were made. Here is Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy from Laredo’s debut recording in 1959.