The Vienna Opera Ball (German: Wiener Opernball) is an annual Austrian society event which takes place in the building of the Vienna State Opera in Vienna, Austria on the Thursday preceding Ash Wednesday (a religious holiday). Together with the New Year Concert, the ball is one of the highlights of the Viennese carnival season.
The tradition of the ball goes back to 1814 during the time when the crowned heads of Europe and the aristocracy searched for entertainment after the Napoleonic wars. The first ball in the opera house took place in 1877 as a soirée . The following balls were redoute, a French term for masquerade balls or costume parties, where the ladies wore their masks until midnight. From 1878 until 1899, such redoute balls took place around two to three times a year.
The first redoute after World War I took place in 1921, with proceeds going to the pension fund of the two state theaters. These events were called also called Opernredoute.
The first ball to be named "Opera Ball" was held in 1935 under the honorary patronage of the Federal Chancellor, but was suspended during World War II. It was revived after the war; it has been held annually ever since, with the exception of 1991, when it was cancelled due to the Persian Gulf War, and 2021 and 2022, both due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2008, Desirée Treichl-Stürgkh has been the chairman (supervising organizer) of the Vienna Opera Ball. It is the highlight of the season, with the heads of state and government, the political and industrial elite, members of the high society, and their guests attending. The price for the entry tickets is the highest of all the Viennese balls.
Starting in 1987, the Opernballdemo, a left-wing demonstration along the Ringstraße against the kind of capitalism represented by, as the protesters see it, many of the elite attending the ball, has regularly taken place on the same night. There have been occasional outbreaks of violence. This has almost disappeared since 2011, with protests focusing on the nationalist Akademikerball instead.
In February 2020 the first same-sex couple were presented as debutante and escort at the ball. [1] The two debutantes, Iris Klopfer and Sophie Grau, were from Germany. [2] Klopfer wore the traditional white dress, long white gloves, and tiara typical for female debutantes while Grau, who is non-binary, wore the traditional black suit and tailcoats typical for male escorts. [3]
Each year, almost overnight, the auditorium of the Vienna State Opera is turned into a large ballroom. On the eve of the event, the rows of seats are removed from the stalls, and a new floor, level with the stage, is built.
The dress code is evening dress: white tie and tails for men; strictly floor-length gowns for women. White opera gloves are still mandatory for female debutantes at the Vienna Opera Ball. [4]
The ball does not start until around 10 pm when the Austrian president and his guests enter the imperial balcony. Their arrival is heralded by trumpets. The Austrian national anthem is played followed by the European anthem. There are performances of the state opera ballet company and classical arias sung by the opera stars. These are normally a small selection of Italian opera and famous Austrian pieces. The highlight of the opening ceremony is the introduction of 180 debutante couples. These are carefully selected young women and men who have successfully completed an audition in the opera, selected according to their Vienna Waltzing skills. The debutante dance is choreographed and supervised by a professional dance school (Santner Dance School). The debutantes are led into the opera house to the sounds of Carl Michael Ziehrer's Fächerpolonaise . Dances are then, for example, the Polonaise in A-Dur, Op. 40 by Frédéric Chopin and Johann Strauss' Warschauer-Polka . The last dance of the debutantes is always the Blue Danube Viennese Waltz by Johann Strauss II, after which the floor is opened to all guests.
The ball runs until 5 am. The opera house offers all access to the guests, with various other rooms and lounges open with different types of music and dance. There is catering on all floors offered by Café Gerstner and various other caterers, as well as a hairdressing service, a make-up service and an in-house tailor, and medical teams on standby. [5]
Various dances moderated by the head of the dance school take place every two hours, such as the popular cotillion.
In a joint venture, ORF and BR broadcast live from the ball for several hours each year.
In 1995 Austrian writer Josef Haslinger published a novel entitled Opernball in which thousands of people are killed in a Neo-Nazi terrorist attack taking place during that society event. The novel was the basis of a 1998 made-for-TV movie by Urs Egger with the same title.
The ball was featured in the postcard for San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. In it, San Marinese participants Michele Perniola and Anita Simoncini attend an evening at the ball.
"Viennese balls" outside of Austria are held in Paris, New York, Moscow, Stockholm, Dubai, Timișoara, etc.
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance, in triple, performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the generic term German Dance in publications during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Viennese waltz is a genre of ballroom dance. At least four different meanings are recognized. In the historically first sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in ballroom dancing, danced to the music of Viennese waltz.
A promenade dance or promenade, commonly called a prom, is a dance party for high school students. It may be offered in semi-formal black tie or informal suit for boys, and evening gowns for girls. This event is typically held at or near the end of the school year. There may be individual junior and senior proms or they may be combined.
White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal evening Western dress code. For men, it consists of a black tail coat worn over a white dress shirt with a starched or piqué bib, white piqué waistcoat and the white bow tie worn around a standing wing collar. Mid or high-waisted black trousers with galon, a braid of trim consisting of two silk stripes to conceal the outer seams of the trousers, along with court shoes complete the outfit. Orders, decorations and medals may be worn. Acceptable accessories include a black top hat, white gloves, a white scarf, a pocket watch, a white pocket square, and a boutonnière. Women wear full-length ball or evening gowns with evening gloves and, optionally, tiaras, jewellery, and a small handbag.
The Vienna State Opera is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, and designs by Josef Hlávka. The opera house was inaugurated as the "Vienna Court Opera" in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It became known by its current name after the establishment of the First Austrian Republic in 1921. The Vienna State Opera is the successor of the old Vienna Court Opera. The new site was chosen and the construction paid by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1861.
A debutante, also spelled débutante, or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" or possibly debutante ball. Originally, the term indicated that the woman was old enough to be married, and one purpose of her "coming out" was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families with a view to marriage within a select circle.
Wiener Blut Op. 354 is a waltz by Johann Strauss II first performed by the composer on 22 April 1873. The new dedication waltz was to celebrate the wedding of the Emperor Franz Joseph I's daughter Archduchess Gisela Louise Maria and Prince Leopold of Bavaria. However, the waltz was also chiefly noted by Strauss' biographers as the début of Strauss with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra where for many years, the Philharmonic had dismissed any association with the 'Waltz King' as it had not wished to be associated with mere 'light' or 'pops' music. The festival ball celebrating the event was held at the Musikverein Hall which is the venue for the present day Neujahrskonzert.
RichardSiegfried "Mörtel" Lugner was an Austrian businessman in the construction industry, a Viennese society figure, and an independent politician.
A ball is a formal dance event often characterised by a banquet followed by a social dance. Ball dancing emerged from formal dances during the Middle Ages and carried on through different iterations throughout succeeding centuries, such as the 17th century Baroque dance and the 18th century cotillion. Several variations exists such as the masquerade and debutante ball as well as the more modern prom.
Austrian culture is characterised by historical and modern influences, including a history of interaction primarily between Celtic, Roman, Slavic and Germanic peoples. Austria is particularly known for its classical music, folk music, baroque architecture, coffee culture, winter sports and Alpine traditions.
Opernball may refer to:
Der Opernball is an operetta in three acts with music by Richard Heuberger, and libretto by Viktor Léon and Heinrich von Waldberg, based on the 1876 comedy Les Dominos roses by Alfred Delacour and Alfred Hennequin. The 1877 farce The Pink Dominos and the 1914 musical To-Night's the Night are other adaptations of the original play.
The Viennese Opera Ball is an annual charity gala held annually under the auspices of the United States-Austrian Chamber of Commerce. The Ball is organized by Board of Directors, under President Silvia Frieser and Artistic Director Daniel Serafin.
Grete Wiesenthal was an Austrian dancer, actor, choreographer, and dance teacher. She transformed the Viennese Waltz from a staple of the ballroom into a wildly ecstatic dance. She was trained at the Vienna Court Opera, but left to develop her own more expressive approach, creating ballets to music by Franz Schreker, Clemens von Franckenstein, and Franz Salmhofer, as well as dancing in her own style to the waltzes of Johann Strauss II. She is considered a leading figure in modern dance in Austria.
Victor Léon, also Viktor Léon was a well-known Jewish librettist. He collaborated with Leo Stein to produce the libretto of Franz Lehár's romantic operetta The Merry Widow.
Vienna Waltzes is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to music by Johann Strauss II, Franz Lehár and Richard Strauss, made as a tribute to Austria. It premiered on June 23, 1977 at the New York State Theater, performed by the New York City Ballet, and was an immediate success among the public.
The Budapest Opera Ball is an annual Hungarian society event taking place in the building of the Budapest Opera (Operaház) on the last Saturday of the carnival season, usually late February. On this occasion the stage and the auditorium of the Opera is transformed into a huge ballroom. The dress code is evening dress: white tie and tailcoat for men, floor-length gowns for women. The ball is opened by more than a hundred debutante dancers after a show consisting of selected arias, followed by the Alles Walzer with people dancing until dawn. Recent international guests include Montserrat Caballé, Ornella Muti, Yevgeny Nesterenko, Walter Berry, Heinz Zednik, Katia Ricciarelli, Patrizio Buanne, Catherine Deneuve, Katarina Witt, Gina Lollobrigida, Daryl Hannah, and Guy de Rothschild. Besides such guests as these, the balls are highlighted by the best-known Hungarian opera singers.
The Vienna Ball of Sciences is a ball held annually in January in Vienna, Austria. It combines classic traditions with contemporary impulses from the field of science communication. Since its establishment in 2015, the Science Ball has quickly gained a reputation as one of the most successful and largest events in the Viennese ball season
The Wiener Kaffeesiederball (Viennese Coffeehouse Owners Ball), also shortened: Kaffeesiederball is one of the extravagant traditional balls of the Viennese ball season.
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