The Budapest Opera Ball (Budapesti Operabál in Hungarian

Hungarian language

Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

, Budapester Opernball in German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

) is an annual Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 society

Upper class

In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...

 event taking place in the building of the Budapest Opera (Operaház) on the last Saturday of the carnival season, usually late February. On this occasion the stage and the auditorium of the Opera is transformed into a huge ballroom. The dress code is evening dress

Evening dress

Evening dress may refer to:* White tie, the most formal civilian dress code in Western fashion* Black tie, a semi-formal dress code for evening events and social functions in Western fashion...

: white tie and tails for men; floor-length ballgowns for women. The ball is opened by more than a hundred debutante

Debutante

A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...

 dancers after a show consisting of selected aria

Aria

An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

s, followed by the 'Alles Walzer

Walzer

Walzer may refer to:* The German name for the waltz** Mephisto-Waltzer, 4 waltzes composed by Franz Liszt- Family names :* Anton Walzer , a German victim of the Berlin Wall...

' with people dancing till dawn. Recent star guests include Montserrat Caballé

Montserrat Caballé

Montserrat Caballé is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi....

, Ornella Muti

Ornella Muti

Ornella Muti is an Italian actress. She was born in Rome as Francesca Romana Rivelli, to a Neapolitan father and Russian mother. Her maternal grandparents immigrated from Leningrad , Russia, to Estonia...

, Yevgeny Nesterenko

Yevgeny Nesterenko

Yevgeny Nesterenko is a renowned Russian operatic bass.Nesterenko's first profession was architecture, graduating from the Engineering and Construction Institute in Leningrad. But he was called to music, and he studied under Vasily Lukanin at the Leningrad Conservatory...

, Walter Berry

Walter Berry

Walter Berry may refer to:*Walter Berry , Austrian opera singer*Walter Berry , former professional basketball player*Walter Van Rensselaer Berry, lawyer, diplomat, friend of writers...

, Heinz Zednik

Heinz Zednik

Heinz Zednik is an Austrian operatic tenor, closely associated with the character tenor roles of Wagner such as Mime and Loge and David...

, Katia Ricciarelli

Katia Ricciarelli

-Biography:Born at Rovigo, Veneto, to a very poor family, she struggled during her younger years when she studied music.She studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, won several vocal competitions in 1968, and made her professional debut as Mimì in La bohème in Mantua in 1969,...

, Patrizio Buanne

Patrizio Buanne

Patrizio is an Italian singer baritone, songwriter, producer. He was previously signed with Globe Records, a division of Universal Music, but has recently signed a global record deal with Warner Music Entertainment.-Biography:Early lifePatrizio Buanne spent his childhood living and traveling from...

, Catherine Deneuve

Catherine Deneuve

Catherine Deneuve is a French actress. She gained recognition for her portrayal of aloof and mysterious beauties in films such as Repulsion and Belle de jour . Deneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1993 for her performance in Indochine; she also won César Awards for that...

, Katarina Witt

Katarina Witt

Katarina Witt is a German figure skater and model. In Germany she was commonly called "Kati" in the past, but today her full name is used more often....

, Gina Lollobrigida

Gina Lollobrigida

Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, photojournalist and sculptress. She was one of the most popular European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was also an iconic sex symbol of the 1950s. Today, she remains an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, particularly the...

, Daryl Hannah

Daryl Hannah

Daryl Christine Hannah is an American film actress. After making her screen debut in 1978, Hannah starred in a number of Hollywood films throughout the 1980s, notably Blade Runner, Splash, Wall Street and Roxanne and Kill Bill.-Early life:Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Susan...

 and Guy de Rothschild

Guy de Rothschild

Baron Guy Édouard Alphonse Paul de Rothschild was a French banker and member of the Rothschild family. He chaired the bank Rothschild Frères from 1967 to 1979, when it was nationalized by the French government, and maintained possessions in other French and foreign companies including Imerys...

. Besides international guests, the balls are highlighted by the most well known Hungarian opera singers.

The Opera Ball was first organised on March 2, 1886. Suspended in 1934, it was not revived until 1996. Representing a tradition rooted in 1880's era Austrian-Hungarian culture, the revival

Revival

Revival may refer to:*Resuscitation of a person*Language revival of an extinct language*Revival of a defunct team*Revival of a former television series*Revival of a former hit play in a new production...

has become the most prestigious meeting point of the participants of the Hungarian public life, fully covered by national media.

In 2011, the Opera Ball was substituted with a charity Gala Concert as a gesture "of contribution to the work of the Government, the leading institutions and the citizens" to help those Hungarians afflicted by the ongoing financial crisis and the various natural disasters.