The 15th Semper Opera Ball in Dresden took place on Friday evening. However, after the scandal surrounding the awarding of orders to the Egyptian ruler El-Sisi (65), the evening was not a good one.
Numerous stars, including the planned moderators Mareile Höppner (42) and Judith Rakers (44) as well as the potential award winner Dietmar Hopp (79) with his laudator Uli Hoeneß (68) or the actor Ben Becker (55), stayed away from the event. The pop star Roland Kaiser (67) led the around 2,000 guests through the evening as a moderator.
Protests in the palace square
He was "horrified by such a level of hatred and verbal violence" that led to the numerous cancellations. "We will not be blackmailed, we will not be intimidated and we will fight back," said Kaiser, without paying much attention to the actual cause of the elusive decision to honor El-Sisi. There were no major protests at the gates of the Semperoper. According to the "Bild" newspaper, around 150 people demonstrated on the Schlossplatz, but numerous people celebrated and danced again to the sounds of the opera.
After the irritation of the past few weeks, the organizers decided to forego all religious awards. Thus, the focus was exclusively on the musical program. The highlight was Peter Maffay (70), who also found clear words in advance and criticized the El Sisi award harshly. "As a rock band in the opera? We think that's cool," commented the musician on his commitment.