Vienna’s 63rd Opernball (Opera ball) once again attracted thousands to Vienna’s Staatsoper on February 28.
The traditional high point of the city’s ball season, the glamorous event was broadcast to 1.4 million viewers, who tuned in for an impeccable opening performance in honor of the Vienna State Opera’s 150th anniversary. Among the some 5,500 celebrity guests, President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz hosted North-Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Kenyan journalist/activist Auma Obama, half sister of the former U.S. president. Most of the cabinet also attended, including Minister of Economic Affairs Margaret Schramböck and Justice Minister, Josef Moser, accompanied by Eurovision song contest winner Conchita Wurst, who used the high-profile platform to encourage participation in May’s EU elections. A highlight: Soprano Anna Netrebko, who stole the show by performing Luigi Arditi’s “Il Bacio” and La Boheme’s “O soave fanciulla” by Giocomo Puccini.
