<div><p>Musical and ballet tributes to composer Frederic Chopin, a medley of opera arias and a flutter of ballgowns will fill Vienna's State Opera House on February 11 for the 54th edition of its glamourous Ball.</p><p>In a year celebrating the Polish composer's 200th birthday, the world famous opera house has recruited the creme de la creme to open proceedings at its annual waltz fest, organisers said Tuesday.</p><p>Dancers from the Vienna and Warsaw ballets will perform together to Chopin's Scherzo Nr. 1 -- "a piece that is important as a link with Vienna because it is one piece that Chopin conceived in Vienna," noted choreographer Giorgio Madia.</p><p>In an Opera Ball first, pianist and 1985 Chopin-prize winner Krzysztof Jablonski will play this piece and the Minute Waltz, to be performed by students of the Vienna Opera Ballet, live on stage.</p><p>Top soloists of Vienna's opera house have also been recruited to perform a short medley of 14 opera arias assembled by in-house conductor Alfred Eschwe.</p><p>They range from Bizet's Carmen to Puccini's La Boheme and, closer to home, Richard Strauss's Die Fledermaus, not forgetting works by Wagner, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Rossini and Lehar.</p><p>The annual Ball, a high-society event, has been broadcast live since 2000, reaching millions of viewers at home and abroad.</p><p>A glamourous affair where businessmen and politicians mingle with local celebrities and wannabees, the Opera Ball is an exclusive event, with tickets going for 230 euros apiece. A top box can fetch up to 17,000 euros.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67831694&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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