2023-11-30 18:16:28
Main image • Gery Keszler in the Life Ball fund, which is now open to anyone interested. • Jana Madzigon
The Life Ball would have turned 30 this year. Gery Keszler regarding his personal assessment of ambivalent years, future plans – and the homage on Friday in the Palais Auersperg.
Gery Keszler was already better together. “It makes me spin,” he complains. He has stomach pain and barely slept at night despite taking sleeping pills.
Keszler is sitting in the Life Ball Fund on Wilhelminenstrasse, where you can now rent costumes and where he previously “brought order almost like a monk,” and speaks in the role of club chairman. A little bit in that of the person celebrating his birthday, who turned 60 this year. But not in that of the organizer: The idea of not letting the 30th anniversary of the Life Ball go by came from young employees around Amir Sirdjani.
So now there is a homage: The celebration takes place on December 1st, World AIDS Day and the date the association was founded. “I thought it was good to see how the troupe might organize this festival independently,” says Keszler. As chairman, he is of course available to provide advice (and probably also as Spiritus Rector).
The event is taking place in the Palais Auersperg because he was inspired by the first part of “Rosenkavaliers”, says Keszler: the palace that was built under the name Rofrano and which inspired Hugo von Hofmannsthal for the libretto. As always with Life Ball, there are more cultural references than most people realize. Keszler quotes baroque painter Raja Schwahn-Reichmann (whose pictures will be reused on Friday), who in turn quotes Mozart: He wrote in such a way that the non-connoisseur is pleased and the connoisseur finds satisfaction. At Rathausplatz, says Keszler, “the air was always electrically charged. Only the smallest part understood the meaning of the stories we told. But something has also been suggested to the rest of them subconsciously.”
»To give to the youth, and to do so in a benevolent and supportive way, that is the moral of this opera. And that’s what I plan to do.”
Gery Keszler
Life Ball founder
In any case, the message of “Rosenkavalier” is to “recognize the signs of the times”. The Marschallin is quoted in the invitation: “Time is a strange thing. If you live like that, it’s nothing at all. But then suddenly you feel nothing but her.” The Marschallin knew that her lover would one day find someone younger. “Giving it to the youth, and doing so in a benevolent and supportive way, that is the moral of this opera,” says Keszler. “And that’s what I plan to do.”
Which brings you back to your condition. The stress was probably self-inflicted: “Because as a control freak, I’m not in control. I fantasize regarding everything that needs to be done differently. But that’s also the point of it. If you want to let go, you have to let go.”
The Arabian Nights comes to life
In any case, elements of various balls will now become part of the homage, such as the one in 2013, which was dedicated to the Arabian Nights. “One of my favorite balls, simply because it was such a pure fairy tale.” Chris Lohner (as a Thierry Mugler model, she was the first to call Keszler in 1993) will read the poem from the first of the thousand nights in which Scheherazade told all of her Gathers courage and fights for survival. A poem in which Keszler also recognizes himself. “Those who toil to create a beautiful garden for everyone expose themselves to the public and are not only praised, but also stoned.” Looking back, the Life Ball years are ambivalent for him. “You are under constant critical scrutiny and experience a lot of envy.”
One problem was that everyone was immediately on a first-name basis with him, whether they knew him or not. “But I have a very bad memory for people,” says Keszler. For fear of not recognizing someone, he “always wore blinders on.” “That gave me a reputation for being arrogant. In reality, it’s just total introversion.”
He doesn’t want to complain, and of course there were many wonderful encounters, including with people like Cardinal Schönborn, “who made me see things differently, put them into perspective, and question myself.” By the way, the best Life Ball moments were always those behind the scenes. “When we have formed a circle in the arcade courtyard. Elton John came in through the back door and we remembered the deceased.”
In any case, the 30 years would have left physical and psychological traces. Of course, he will continue to be involved. “I want to actively see the end of HIV/AIDS. This will certainly be the case in the next few years. We are in the home stretch. But I can’t imagine being forced into a calendar regularity with major events once more.” Indirectly, this is also a rejection of the charity show “Austria for Life”, for which sequels in the federal states were actually planned. Keszler doesn’t want to say much regarding this, only this much: they were stuck with the costs.
For now he wants to strengthen himself, says Keszler, who hopes that many young people will visit on Friday. “And then think with a clear mind and power whether I want to accept an interesting, large offer from abroad.”
At a glance
An Homage to Life Ball will take place on Friday, December 1st, in the Palais Auersperg. In the first part, we look back on the achievements of the ball with our companions. It was founded in 1993 at the height of the AIDS crisis. The last edition took place in 2019. The gates open at 10 p.m. for a party for 900 guests. Protagonists from the very beginning such as Thierry Mugler muse Dianne Brill or Eberhard Forcher are expected to be the first DJ. Proceeds go to the South African children’s aid program Yabonga and AIDS relief.
Tickets are still under oeticket.com available. They cost 75 euros, including a costume voucher worth 25 euros for the Life Ball FundusWilhelminenstraße 91. It is open on December 1st, otherwise by appointment at office@lifeplus.org or 01/5955600. www.life-costumes.org
All information regarding the event: 30.lifeball.org
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