In the diary: waltzing Brunhilde
Posted by Anthony on February 9th, 2009
Date Thursday 19 February.
Place Vienna State Opera House, Austria.
Style Social whirl
Setting Imperial Austria
Vienna is the last European capital to continue the age-old tradition of sumptuous, elegant dances, with rustling silk gowns, commanding orchestras and gentlemen in top hats and tails. The famed Vienna Opera Ball – the grandest one of the season – held in the neo-Renaissance State Opera House is a firm fixture for globetrotting socialites, industry barons and international ambassadors and dignitaries.
Event highlights The Vienna Opera Ball is the big one, always held at the Vienna State Opera House on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday. Women in floor-sweeping gowns and men looking like a tribe of James Bonds come to dine and dance, to see and be seen.
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IN THE KNOW
Head Count Up to 5,000 people.
Packing Tips Bring your very best threads. Don’t have a ballgown gathering dust in the back of your closet? No matter – at Flossmann you can rent a suitable dress for the evening from around €120 (+43 1 512 0166). Gentlemen can hire out penguin suits from Lambert Hofer (+43 1 408 1666).
Keep it a secret… Fine-tune your fancy steps with waltz lessons. Both the Elmayer Dance School (+43 1 512 7197) and the Dorner Dance School (+43 1 505 0612) do crash courses.
Bar chat Austrian construction magnate Richard Lugner invites a different female celebrity to join him and his wife at the Vienna Opera Ball every year, invariably eclipsing the official guests of honour. His recent guests have included Carmen Electra, Pamela Anderson and Geri Halliwell. It’s rumoured that he asked Monica Lewinsky to attend in 1998, but she declined.
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DOS & DON’TS
• Don’t make the mistake of thinking your usual shoes will do – invest in proper dancing shoes to get you through the night.
• Do arrive promptly – admission is from 9pm and the dancing starts at 10pm.
• Do heck out the dress rehearsal at 7pm on the night before. Being put through your ballroom paces while still in jeans and T-shirt has a surreal appeal.
• Do buy a Vienna pass (around €17), especially if you’re trying to see some sights. The three-day passport will give you unlimited use of public transport and discounts at major museums and galleries. You can buy it online at www.wien.info, or pick it up at most hotels and tourist information centres.
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IN THE KNOW
Getting there Airlines run regular flights to Vienna’s airport at Schwechat. From there, take the 16-minute City Airport Train for around €10, or book a taxi with Airport Service.
Children Most balls are adults-only, but there are some special family-friendly events. See www.wien.info for details.
Parking Problematic in Vienna. Most guests take chauffeur-driven cars or horse-drawn barouches to the event, from €90 an hour. Hail one outside the State Opera or St Stephen’s Cathedral, or ask your hotel to arrange one.
Food & Drink Traditionally, hearty Gulaschsuppe (goulash soup) is served at midnight to keep up revellers’ strength, but we recommend you buy a dinner ticket for the ball or make restaurant reservations. The five-course feasts at Restaurant Bauer on Eisenbahnstrasse (+43 1 512 9871) are an elegant way to start the night. Or try Michelin-starred Steirereck on Heumarkt – book early to get a conservatory table (+43 1 713 3168). Balls usually end in the early hours, but the fun doesn’t stop there: groups descend in their finery on the all-night coffeehouses for a Katerfrühstück (‘hangover breakfast’), or chow down on hotdogs at a Würstelstand. For something a touch more refined, head to Café Landtmann on Dr Karl Lueger-Ring, where such luminaries as Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Marlene Dietrich and Hillary Clinton have enjoyed the fabulous coffee and cakes (+43 1 241 000).
Sleep In the city centre, the Levante Parliament has a huge courtyard and a fabulous restaurant. Its creators have dispensed with the superfluous and concentrated on streamlined chrome and transparent glass - lots of it. The all-glass bar and red glass sculptures by Ioan Nemtio, after whom the hotel’s modern bar and restaurant were named, are strikingly contemporary.
Tickets For the Opera Ball, (www.staastsoper.at), booking prices range form €230 to €17,000 (for a box). Ticket prices vary for other balls, but tend to start in the region of €50.
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We’re keeping a close eye on the international event calendar, so watch this space for more insider info on inspiring (and idiosyncratic) shenanigans around the world…
Very cool blog you have here and informative, now I know I need to visit Vienna, I been to Germany, France, Italy and Spain but never Vienna so I guess that will be my next destination.
By Marcus Falden
On February 9th, 2009