Remembering Vienna

At the Vienna Opera Ball held in Le Pavillion, Metropolitan Park, some 700 guests remembered Vienna, largely through 14 lovely debutantes and their handsome escorts dancing the waltzes and polkas choreographed by Austrian "import" Siegfried Schellander and our own Gener Caringal; through Viennese music, e.g., "A Night in Venice" played by the Philippine Philharmonic under the baton of Ernest Hoetzl; through spirited songs from Die Fledermaus and The Merry Widow as interpreted by mezzo-soprano Agnes Barredo and tenor Francisco Aseniero, and not the least, through the nimble dancing of Maritoni Rufino.

The debutantes, however, were the focus of attention, these nubile maidens calling to mind the following words of a decades-old song:

As the years go by, whether young or old/You will remember Vienna/Nights that were happy and hearts that were free/All join in singing a sweet melody/When the race is run/Whether lost or won/Then you’ll remember Vienna/You will recall blossoms in May/Sweethearts who came and vanished away/Whence did they come?/Where did they go?/Vienna will never let me know!

The ball’s outstanding success was eloquently summed up by Austrian Ambassador Christian Krepela: "Tonight’s event captures the magnificence and grandeur of a Vienna Opera Ball through a vibrant display of traditional Austrian music and dances." Actually, in the mid’80s, Mandarin Oriental GM Helmut Gaisberger initiated the recreation here of the nearly sixty-year- old Vienna Opera Ball at which leading figures of European social, cultural, diplomatic and business circles gathered to dance and to watch the prettiest socialites making their debuts at the Imperial Palace.

In Manila’s elegant counterpart, FA Secretary Blas and Susan Ople made one of their rare appearances; Finance Secretary Lito and Kim Camacho came to boost the morale of their son Leonardo who shyly escorted a debutante.

Jun-jun Ablaza, son of Luis and Mellie, conceptualized the eye-catching set design and decor for what was doubtless the charity ball of the year.