78th Vienna Philharmonic Ball
Date: Thursday, January 24, 2019
https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/ball/vienna-philharmonic-ball-main
Begin: 10:00 PM
Admission: 9:00 PM
End: 5:00 AM
Venue: In all halls of the Musikverein building in Vienna; Bösendorferstrasse 12, 1010 Vienna.
Ceremonial Opening:
Vienna Philharmonic
Conductor: to be announced
Musical Entertainment:
Großes Ballorchester
Leitung: Prof. Helmut Steubl
Tom Henkes Dance Band
Divertimento Viennese
Ticket and Price Information
Ticket sales begin on January 14, 2019, at the Vienna Philharmonic Ticket Office, Kärntner Ring 12, 1010 Vienna, Mon. - Fri., 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM. Before this date, tickets can only be purchased in conjunction with a table reservation. Some tickets will also be available online beginning on January 14, 2019.
Opening Ceremony of the Vienna Philharmonic Ball
Experience the dazzling opening ceremony of the Vienna Philhamonic Ball 2018!
The History of the Philharmonic Ball
https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/ball/history
The Ball in Times Past
Historic Photos of the Vienna Philharmonic Ball
"Wenn die Philharmoniker ihrer alten Tradition eine neue hinzufügen und einen Ball geben, der ein gesellschaftliches Ereignis ist, so festigt das das Standesbewußtsein der Musiker."
Alexander Wunderer,
Vorstand der Wiener Philharmoniker, 1924.
The first Vienna Philharmonic Ball was held in 1924, and set precedents which the ball committee has maintained to this day. The ball was held annually from 1924 to 1931. After a hiatus from 1932 through 1948, the ball resumed again in 1949 and became a permanent highlight of the season's festivities. All together it has now been held over 70 times, and was cancelled only once, in 1991, due to the Gulf War.
Anton Wildgans, prominent Austrian poet and director of Vienna's Burgtheater, authored a poem for the ball booklet which was presented to the ladies on that very first evening in 1924. His prologue begins with the introductory words to the orchestra "The homeland loves you, the world honors you", and this tribute has remained over the years an unofficial "Ode to the Philharmonic". Richard Strauss, who collaborated artistically with the orchestra for many years, composed a festive fanfare for the first ball in 1924, and this work has been performed at every ball since that time.
For every ball, a prominent conductor is invited who leads the Philharmonic in a performance of a popular composition from the orchestra's repertoire. In the past, this function has been carried out by conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, Karl Böhm, Willy Boskovsky, Pierre Boulez, Placido Domingo, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Clemens Krauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Daniele Gatti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Mariss Jansons, Herbert von Karajan, Carlos Kleiber, Clemens Krauss, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Georges Prêtre, Sir Simon Rattle, Franz Schalk, Sir Georg Solti, Christian Thielemann and Felix Weingartner - all conductors who have been regular guests of the subscription concert series.
Ever since 1924, the ball has featured several prominent personalities from the world of art, politics, and society who make up the Patronage and Honorary Committee. Over the years this committee has been made up of such individuals as Hugo von Hoffmansthal, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Lotte Lehmann, Franz Schalk, Leo Slezak and Richard Strauss at pre-war balls, and Agnes Baltsa, Rudolf Buchbinder, José Carreras, Placido Domingo, Elīna Garanča, Edita Gruberova, Jonas Kaufmann, Angelika Kirchschlager, Lang Lang, Anna Netrebko, Michael Schade, Peter Simonischek, Bo Skovhus und Heinz Zednik, as well as many other artists, in more recent years.
The selection and supervision of the dancers of the Debutante Committee is just one of the many duties of the President of the Ball. This honorary function was carried out by Mrs. Maria Mautner-Markhof from 1949-1980, and by Mrs. Elisabeth Waldheim from 1985-86. Between 1981-84 and 1987-89 there was no ball president, but Mrs. Eva Angyan was President of the Ball from 1990–2010. In 2011, this function was carried out by a Ball Committee consisting of Mrs. Rotraut Konrad, Mrs. Marjana Lipovšek, Dr. Hannes Androsch and Director Dominique Meyer. In 2013 the Ball Committee was reconstituted with Mrs. Rotraut Konrad, Mrs. Madeleine Rohla-Strauss, Mr. Rudolf Hundstorfer and Mr. Dominique Meyer.
For many years, Mrs. Lucie Bräuer-Fränzl, former soloist with the Vienna State Opera Ballet, provided the choreography for the opening procession and waltz. In 2000, Mr. Thomas Schäfer Elmayer, of Vienna's well known Elmayer-Vestenbrugg School of Dance, assumed these responsibilities as Master of Dance.
Thu, 24. January 2019 22:00 h Vienna, Austria
Musikverein, Golden Hall
78th Vienna Philharmonic Ball
CONDUCTOR Daniel Harding
COMPOSITIONS BY Johann Strauss Jr., Richard Strauss, Gottfried Freiberg