(Credit: © Wiener Staatsoper / Michael Pöhn)

The Wiener Staatsoper has announced the cancellation of its traditional Opera Ball in 2022. The ball was canceled following a decision by the State Secretary for Art and Culture Andrea Mayer.

In a statement, the opera company’s director, Bogdan Roščić, noted that the current wave of COVID-19, and particularly the Omicron variant, has made planning for such a major event an impossible undertaking.

“We have done all we can to ensure the Opera Ball could take place. But the whole situation at the moment just doesn’t offer the necessary conditions. The ball now takes months of preparation, with partners and suppliers. These deadlines could no longer be met. The uncertainty caused by Omikron was also added, the uncertainty among attenders was greater every day. I am therefore very happy about the clear decision made today. We will now plan a replacement program for the week concerned and otherwise continue to work on our ideas for the Opera Ball 2023 together with our committee,” Roščić said in an official press statement.

The Wiener Staatsoper will reopen on Dec. 13 with a performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” following three week long general lockdown in Austria due to fierce COVID-19 wave.