Inside the Prestigious Viennese Opera Ball at New York’s Plaza Hotel

The objective is clear: to move forward with a determined step to the panel covered with the logos of the patrons, then strike a pose in front of it, with confidence. By then you should have managed to catch the attention of photographers and other guests. A bit of celebrity can help, otherwise a colorful hairdo, a plunging neckline or a uniform will do.

Welcome to the Plaza Hotel, on 5^e Avenue, at the southeast end of Central Park. On this Friday in May, the heart of Manhattan welcomes a very special version of an ancestral Viennese tradition: the opera ball. Tonight, the New York edition celebrates its 67^e anniversary.

Thirty-five to forty events of this kind are organized each year around the world: from Stanford, California, to Milan, via London or Berlin. But the Viennese Opera Ball – the official name of the New York version – is one of the oldest and most prestigious of them all. With two more editions to their credit, the New York organizers have also dethroned their Austrian counterparts in terms of regularity – the event has been canceled several times in Vienna, in particular because of the Covid. And they are also the only ones to respect the ancestral dress codes: tail coat required for men.

“The Luxury Hotel Tour”

On both sides of the Atlantic, a single watchword: see and be seen. In Vienna, there is nothing better for this than the grand grand staircase. In New York, it’s under the dim lights of the sumptuous Terrace Room of the Plaza that it happens – a famous luxury hotel, which has served as the setting for films Mom, I missed the plane again! et Gatsby the magnificent.

Beneath the huge chandeliers and painted ceilings, the very best of the Viennese and New York cultural, political, tourist and media scene sips sparkling water while waving to each other, under the lens of the photographers. Austrian billionaire Ingrid Flick is there, as is opera singer Harald Serafin, accompanied by his wife Inge and his son Daniel, who is in charge of the artistic direction of the event.

The ball was long held at the Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue, but since the building closed