The image of the souvenir sheet with a stamp shows a black and white photo that depicts the musician Renato Russo on stage, where he best performed as an artist, while performing scenic performances that charmed his audience, emphasizing, with body expression, the poetry contained in the lyrics of his songs. For the elaboration of the art, the title of the issue was highlighted, to the left. On the right side, an excerpt of the song “Vinte e Nove” (TwentyNine) is transcribed. Calcographic ink was used in the title and in the lyrics. The techniques of photography and computer graphics were used.
Tribute to the musician and poet Renato Russo
On March 27, 2019, the singer-songwriter Renato Russo would be 59 years old. In his honor, the Post Office Company Correios will issue a Special Postage Stamp to this great Brazilian artist. This honor to the multimedia artist was defined by the National Philatelic Commission (Portuguese acronym: CFN), based on more than 700 suggestions received from the population and homologated in August 2018 by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications (Portuguese acronym: MCTIC). The Renato Russo stamp is more an interactivity that consolidates the collection of the artist’s memories as a classic of the national culture and another beautiful initiative aimed at the millions of admirers of this immortal of Brazilian popular music. The image that illustrates the stamp demonstrates the incomparable charisma and contagious form of presentation on the stage. Elements that made him admired by the most diverse audiences. Parents and children and, more recently, grandparents and grandchildren listen and identify with Renato Russo. The lyrics, so brilliant, have immortalized him as a leader of generations. The
greatest idol of Brazilian rock is still a phenomenon whose success does not stop growing. Renato Russo and his band Legião Urbana remain at the top of the charts and, in an upward movement, continue conquering lovers and followers as if, more than ever, he was alive. The stamp features an excerpt from the song Vinte e Nove (Twenty-Nine): “When you stopped loving me, I learned to forgive
and to ask forgiveness / and twenty-nine angels greeted me, and I had twenty-nine friends again.” The lyrics were composed by Renato Russo and released on the album “O Descobrimento do
Brasil” (The Discovery of Brazil), in 1993. Before his band Legião Urbana, Renato Russo first performed in the city of Brasilia, with the band Aborto Elétrico (1978/1981) and then, alone, as Trovador Solitário (Solitary Troubadour) (1982). Years later, Renato also released solo career with the album The Stonewall Celebration Concert (1994). He then released Equilíbrio Distante (Distant Equilibrium) (1995), interpreting Italian songs. Visionary, since beginning his artistic career in 1978, Renato showed his extraordinary ability to translate feelings into words. It was at that time, with the initial formation of Aborto Elétrico, that he composed the success “Que País é
Esse?” (“What country is this?”). The hit, always remembered by the fans, gained a new breath in the voice of crowds who took to the streets in the popular demonstrations that began in 2013, and became a true hymn, unison, in defense of social causes. The chorus is constantly quoted in articles, editorials, reports, speeches of authorities and social networks, showing adaptation to the new contexts of the contemporary world. At the head of the of the production company that manages the legacy of Renato Russo, Legião Urbana Produções Artísticas, the son of the singer, Giuliano Manfredini, said that the issuance of this stamp is another important item that will comprise the extensive material that reconstructs the trajectory of the artist. “I was very pleased to receive this proposal from the Post Office Company Correios because my job is, above all, to preserve my father’s memory, and this stamp, besides being a beautiful homage to him, on the day he would celebrate his birthday, will be yet another way for admirers of his vast legacy to always remember his strength and keep the spark lit”, Giuliano commented. The creative force of this genius of Brazilian music is such that although he is completing 23 years of his “absence”, the sensation is that he never ceased to be present, and will be even closer to Brazilians and lovers of philately with the issuance of this special stamp Renato, surnamed Manfredini Júnior, was born in the dawn of March 27, 1960, in Rio de Janeiro, and his fate was interrupted in the dawn of October 11, 1996, also in Rio de Janeiro. But his departure did not silence the voice of
this artist, who became an immortal of Brazilian popular music. The aesthetic power of the poetic constructions of his lyrics, eternalized him in such a way that the words of music continue to provoke emotions, feelings and producing new senses in the lovers of his songs, which causes that his sacred work is renewed to each sonorous experience.
Murilo Caldas
Journalist