Dresden (dpa / sn) - After quarrels about controversial awards, the Dresden Semper Opera Ball is trying to restart. The ball club Semper Opernball e.V. elected a new management team on Monday. The former MDR program manager Wolf-Dieter Jacobi (57) is now at the top, as the association announced. He replaces the longtime ball impresario Hans-Joachim Frey (57), who no longer ran for the board and is also leaving the club.
"The realignment was preceded by an intensive consolidation process," the club said. Now a "consistent new beginning" should be made. The most important message is that the Opera Ball is alive and will continue to exist, explained Jacobi. In the next few weeks, a concept for a new opera ball should be developed. Time is needed for this. The board has therefore decided that the ball planned for March 3, 2023 will be cancelled. The next ball should be held on February 23, 2024.
The Semper Opera Ball had fallen into twilight, among other things, due to the awards of medals to Vladimir Putin in 2009 and the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in 2020. The Russian President was stripped of the so-called Order of St. George after the attack on Ukraine. The Semperoper, which rented its premises for the ball, distanced itself from artistic director Frey.
The last Dresden Opera Ball to date took place in 2020. In the two years after that it was canceled due to the corona pandemic.
