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The Pittsburgh Opera's glorioso Maecenas XX Ball -- named for the first Roman patron of the arts -- took 490 black-ties on a Roman holiday to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Friends, Romans and cognoscenti swept past bare-chested gladiators and toga-clad maidens to the Benedum lobby for cocktails. Through the years, this ball has been as grand as the opera company it supports, and Saturday night continued the tradition a la dolce vita. Bellas dressed as if to the glamour born and none of the ice looked like family jewels, unless grandmama happened to be the Duchesss of Windsor.

One might have been at the Italian Riviera. Guests, stepping onto the vast stage to find their tables, walked toward a fantasy terrace. Majestic Roman columns and incandescent ones banked both sides of the stage, while Tim Condron followed with two monumental baskets of flowers on high. Dozens of pillar candles centered white table tops and gauzy white scrims fluttered above like sails in the sunset, all created by Bob Sendall of All in Good Taste.

BUT the speechifying that opened the party was longer than the first act of "Julius Caesar." And although the Duquesne Club's menu and service were molto bene, the entree could not be served until 9:15 p.m. ... causing one wag to suggest sending out for a pizza.

High notes followed with an aria by mezzo Deborah Domanski from the PO's upcoming production of "Dead Man Walking," as its handsome composer Jake Heggie applauded madly from his table. Another was the splendid video retrospective of the chairs behind the ball's 20-year success story, and many showed for the auld lang syne that former director Tito Capobianco opened with actor Burt Lancaster in '94. Opera pillars like Barbara Barry (three balls), there with sons Kevin, Nick and daughter Liza in from NYC; Pam Estes Ferry (three balls) with Jim; Howard and Maryann dePalma Burnett; Jim Agras and Electra (wearing a divine Melinda Eng red chiffon); Jane Roesch; Gillian and David Williams; Sandy Bettor; Carol and Joe Massaro; Jan Pagliari (in a blush, hand-beaded chiffon) with Dick; Jeff Lipton and Shelley in Escada's best seafoam silk gown. And the resounding standing "O" for Pittsburgh's top patronessa of the arts, Nadine Bognar, also honored with the Opera's coveted Maecenas Award.

Showtime brought two-time Grammy Award winner Sylvia McNair to the stage for a terrific cabaret act, and then it was time to shake our tailfeathers off to Cityscape.

Let's name drop: Ball chairs Barbara Chait in a beaded Oscar and Jerry of Giant Eagle and the Soffer Organization's Damian Soffer and Teri turning heads in a fab coral organza by Jackie Rodgers; co-chairs Leslie and Matthew Braksick with Nancy and John Traina; PO director Mark Weinstein and Susanne Marsee; Mark Pasquerilla; Sheila and Milt Fine; Glen Meakem and stunning Diane; PO prez Woody Turner and Mary; Patti and Attila Molnar; State Rep. Sam Smith and Donna; Jane and Tasso Katselas; Rita and Lucien Caste; Lucy and Ian Rawson; Joan and Phillip Gulley; Nancy and Bill Rackoff; PO artistic director Christopher Hahn; Jane Treherne-Thomas and Bill Dietrich; Steve and Helen Hanna Casey; Pam and Ken McCrory; Sally Wiggin; and Peggy and Bob Runnette.

Plus Tony Bucci and Linda in a gorgeous lavender Gabalis gown; Kathy and John Connelly; Deborah and Eric Hessinger; Cynthia and Steve Beemsterboer; Christine Adams and Ed Bognar; Marsetta and Dick Schweiger; Dr. Robin and Mark Willard; Rose and Dr. Mike Kutsenkow; Charles and Hilary Tyson Porter; Nachum Golan and Steve Hough; Dr. John and Dolores Smith Barber; Barbara and Dr. Gene Myers; Kris Brown; Sidney and Tucky Wolfson; Dee Bold; Jean Ferketish and Dave Thomas; Mary and Dr. Al Costa; Steve and Audrey Richman; Tom Kazas and stunning Sandy in a white Grecian gown; Julie and Dr. Dade Lunsford; Joel and Mia Hallet Bernard; Anita and Ross Dacal; Renee and Bob Denove; Dee Jay Oshry; and Gracia and Dr. Peter Sheptak.

A big notte that waltzed big from the beginning and, at $390,000, raised big buccaroos. In dollars, not euros.

Toast of the town, II

Here's a full-bodied story with a fruity aftertaste. Used to be you could order a bottle of wine for dinner and be done with it. If you wanted to show off, you might swirl the stuff around in your glass and spend an exaggerated moment with your nose just south of the rim before muttering something offhand about grassiness or cherry notes. It was red or it was white. Then things got a lot more complicated. That is, until the Pittsburgh Wine Festival rolled into town.

After the stunning success of last year's event, the second sold-out quaffer doubled in size to 125 of the world's reddest-carpet wineries. So if you weren't among the 2,000 guests tasting their way past seven countries on both sides of Heinz Field's East and West Club lounges, end zone to end zone, you may have been the only one. And these folks were in a much better mood.

"If Bacchus had a cellar, this would be it," sighed wine connoisseur Ed Harrell. Happens he's also prez of (shameless plug) the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review which, once again, hosted Thursday's spectacular second annual Pittsburgh Wine Festival with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board that's chaired by Jonathan Newman.

Andrea Immer, one of only 13 femme master sommeliers in the world, opened the VIP tasting of the great ones with a few remarks and then tossed off asides about what wines to lay down and how to avoid buying a lot of bad red stuff. With two books to her credit and a weekly cable TV series, she can sniff out a Lafite in her sleep. For true believers, you could chat up the owners and winemakers pouring their classics from Maison Joseph Drouhin, Duckhorn Vineyards, Paul Jaboulet Aine, Maison Albert Bichot, Steele Wines, Montes Winery, Vins Jean-Luc Colombo, Chateau Souverain, Robert Mondavi Winery and Chateau Palmer, to name but a few. And then buy their bottles on the spot at the PLCB wine cellar. Best of all, the fest benefited Children's Hospital and the Trib's family of charities.

Grape expectations peaked Friday at the Duquesne Club when legendary founder Warren Winiarski poured a vertical tasting of Stag's Leap Cask 23 wines that you wouldn't be able to find even if you could afford them. That night, Party Central paired celeb winemakers and guests with grand-occasion menus at Isabela on Grandview (Catherine Olteanu donated

the dine's take to Children's Hospital!), Cafe Allegro, Lucca, Carlton, Nemacolin Woodlands and eight other top eateries.

Nothing was spoiled, except the black-ties, at Saturday's sky-high finale: the cognac dine at Ed Dunlap's LeMont at $500 per snifter ... and every sou was donated to CH. Tom Selig of Remy Amerique brought his nectar of the gods and a Louis XIII cognac at $1,100 per bottle. After all, you shouldn't tap-dance off to eternity without a really terrific bottle of wine inside you. Did I hear an amen?

Cheers to the Trib's wine guy Dave DeSimone, who led the charge with event masterminds Susan Santa-Cruz, Sheila Weiner and Janet Corrine Harvey. Between swirling and sipping, we spotted Ken McCrory; Alex Speyer III; Nancy and Doug Sansom of Comcast; PNC's Holly Buffinton; Amy Ashton; Judy and Jim Stalder; Dr. Tom Allen; Marsetta and Dick Schweiger; Laura Hruby and Douglas Dick; ClearChannel's Rich and Cindy Engler; Judy Linaburg; Joe Kane; Barbara Barry; Yale Gutnick and

daughter Laura; Jim Broadhurst; Keitha and Steven Libman; Lou and Henry Gailliot; Peter Mars; Fay Sampson and Dennis Huber; Cheri West and Murry Gerber; CH's Ron and Pat Violi; U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan; Ted Olson; Joanie Kamin; Ranny Ferguson; Helen and Dan Hoey; Gail and Tom Murphy; Jim Hageder; Jackie and Dr. Bob Capretto; Gabriela and David Porges; Barbara and Jim Keating; Pat and Andy Rodgers; Cynthia Carrow and Jim Kyper; Dave Mayernik; Stephanie and Bill Spence; Russ Kemerer; Ray Hartung; Kraig Cawley; Susie Silversmith and Larry Leventon; Janice and Ernie Meade; newlyweds Beth and Tony Sinatra; Carl Dozzi; Tony Lombardi; Izzazu's Emilio; David Habib; Craig Totino; and two of Pittsburgh's men in blue, Frank Rende and Paul McComb, making certain that eveyone had a safe ride home after the most prestigious wine event in the history of our region.

I'll drink to that.

Golden Saint-Gaudens

There are so many pleasures in the new show, "Augustus Saint-Gaudens: American Sculptor of the Gilded Age," that one should revisit to grasp its passion and beauty. It's run-don't-walk-time to the Frick Art Museum, Point Breeze, to surround yourself with some 70 masterworks by the artist hailed as "the American Michelangelo."

Saint-Gaudens knew that, if women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning. So he crowned the $20 gold piece with a beauty, topped Madison Square Gardens with his exquisite huntress Diana and flattered the faces of rich darlings in the cameos and marble you'll find in the collection that was generously supported by the Allegheny Foundation. As his clients' palatials were filled with all that money could buy, check out the panels that Cornelius Vanderbilt II commissioned for his dining room. Then there's the powerful Shaw

Memorial that conjures up the Civil War film, "Glory," starring Denzel Washington and Matthew Broderick.

Art heavies flocking to Thursday's charming preview reception, purveyed by Rania Catering, numbered 220, including Dr. Henry Duffy, who expertly curated the show; Frick director Bill Bodine with chair Betsy Watkins and Chuck; Nancy and Dan Fales; Holmes Wolfe; Ritchie and Dick Scaife; Carol Word; Audrey and Tom Hilliard; Charlotte and Henry Beukema; Jean Ann and Dr. Brack Hattler; Richard Armstrong; Aaronel and Irv Gruber; Minnette Bickel; Monica and Tom Smart; Susanne and Jim Wilkinson; Frances and Jim Hardie; Ann and John Buckman; Alice Snyder; Pam Bryan; Pat Navarro Sr. and Jr. with Daryl Hutson; Ann and Alison Wardrop; and Dede Acer.

Block party

The lights were burning brightly in the stately Shadyside abode of P-G publisher John Robinson Block and Susan, his bonnie bride of nearly two years, that has all the trappings of gracious living. And a garden where the grass was definitely greener at Friday's Spring Gala for Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania.

Favoring the charm of country English, it's comfy, colorful, loaded with antiques and a great draw for the cause. Designer Patrick Denham has given presence to their collection of Staffordshire in the flower-strewn living room with its baby grand that brought John Garrick to the keyboard for the party. While the paneled library is shelved with rare editions, the dining room is wrapped ceiling-to-chair-rail with a fabulous mural of the woodlands at Pittsburgh's point in the 1700s. And, yes, there is a, um, block house in the fort.

Midst the garden beds of white tulips there soared a transparent tent that levitated with energy, Tim Condron's (he and Denham co-chaired the classy do) blissful bouquets, an elegant buffet by Lee Deiseroth's Fluted Mushroom, and beautifully dressed beautiful people. Like Drs. Helene and Todd Blodgett; PP board chair Donna Bauman and prexy Kim Evert; Dr. Lissa and Tim Hazel; Audrey and Tim Fisher; Elsie and Henry Hillman; Catherine and Mark Loevner; Ed Harrell; Bernard Worden; Drs. Thelma Snyder and Mark Liang; Fran and Jim Abraham; Karen and Ed Linder; Diane and Hal Waldman; Sue and Jim Liken; Marian Winson; Bill Genge, who once owned the manse; Liz and Tom Sweeney; the McCradys: Sibby and Duff with Christine and T.J.; Dr. Katherine and Tracy Henderson; Tricia Kassling; Marsha and Scott Deaktor; Richard Reed; and Liz Schoyer, whose father-in-law was a founder of PP's local chapter.

Pink Tea

It all began with the color pink, Connie Rockwell's fave hue. As the Civic Light Opera Guild's founder and first lady, her pinkdom delivered 150 ladies in their smartest suits and hats (my, what the hat luncheon has done for chapeaux in our town) to the Concordia Club that was pink on pink in, well, you know, for the Pink Tea. A springtime tradition since 1955, Thursday's one-lump-or-two was about lifting pinkies for the Guild's glam Pink Frolic Ball. Themed "Kaleidoscope," this year's black-tie will be basking in color, swells and oodles of pink gift boxes on June 19 at the Westin Convention Center ballroom.

Dolores Warwick put a fashionable spin on the ladies' day with a strut of stunning day-to-night looks from Catherina of Oakmont that was narrated by WTAE-TV's Mike Clark. Among the pink ladies were benefit chair Sally Schneeberger in "wood nymph" mode with her guest State Auditor General Robert Casey Jr., who practically sunk the do with his drone; CLO's Van Kaplan; ball chair Norma Sobel; Dee Bold; Anne Hanna; Guild prexy Patty Matty; Kristin Lane; Bobbi Aiello; Rita Randall; Dottie Florence; Carol Caroselli, with her chic "little hooker" handbag holder on tables; Marsetta Schweiger; Terry Hastings; Ann Baldridge; Barb Mendlowitz; Rose Kutsenkow; Fran Logue; Mary McVay; Denise Quinn; and a groaning board of goodies that had the women tickled -- well, you know.

Poker Faces

There was plenty of time for counting the money after the dealing was done during Monday's Cancer Caring Center Texas Holdem poker benefit at Bossa Nova, where 50 ramblin' gamblin' men and women anted up to win the fight against cancer. The house of card sharks sweetened the CCC kitty to the tune of $100 each and parlayed the popularity of celebrity TV poker showdowns.

Of course, luck was a lady or two as organizer Josette Janczak and CCC director Rebecca Whitlinger were an unbeatable pair. Local funny man Buzz Nutley played the joker as he dealt out laughs for non-players, including former sitcom child star Butch Patrick (aka Eddie Munster). The stacked deck included board prez John Fellabom; Mountaineer Park's Aimee Arneult; Ron Bua; Pat Riley; Bob Kaiser; Rob Beck; Ken Cowles; Eric Mungai; Red Schiller; Holly Planinsic; Eric Hess and Annette Quinn.

Aces.

-- John Altdorfer

Quick Takes

One for the books. Allegheny Country Club was dishing more than Sewickley sophistication at Friday's veddy feminine throng. An elaborate tea had been laid for 100 ladies celebrating Child Health Association's 30-year success story of the first Three Rivers Cookbook that, after its initial 500,000 run in 1974, is still selling like, um, pierogies. Three more volumes and various benefits over the years have raised over $3 million for child-related organizations, which gives new meaning to home cooking. Missy Zimmerman, Ann Garrett (in from Indiana) and Mary Ann Riley were among the original tasters and chairs toasting the power of women. As were CHA prexy Bonnie Megan; Theresa Tunick; Linda Schober; Susan Kaminski; Carol Weis; Phyllis Semple; Jebby Potter; Beth Rom; Susan Nitzberg; B.G. Shields; Pam Vaughn; Doe Samuels; Deb Zappala; Christine Kardong; and Mary Kahn.

Saluting legends. Leading the way to an affordable education is a noble calling. Which explains why Community College of Allegheny County sent Linda Dickerson, John "Buddy" Hobart, Joseph Wolfson, Kenneth Hirschl, Benjamin Spicer and Duquesne Light to the head of the class as Legends in Leadership at Thursday's classy fete in the Omni William Penn. Applauding their achievements were benefit chair David Malone; Ralph Papa; Georgie Foerster; Angie Longo; Bill Flanagan; Karen Wolk Feinstein; Barbara Parees and Tom Hollander; Joyce and Mike Adamcyk; Mona Generett; Mary Beth Johnson; and Candace and Bob Mill.

Children's hour. Kids. Our joy, our future, our most vulnerable population. And why Family Resources raised our awarness about ending the tragedy of child abuse. Honorary chairs Kaye and Steelers coach Bill Cowher with Michael Donnelly and Peggy Finnegan of WPXI-TV singled out special folks for their commitment to kids. Like awardees Judge Kim Clark, Janice Parks, Gwen Elliott, Richard Garland, Erin Craig, Vicki Nacarrato, and Rogers CAPA Middle School. Also at the family friendly benefit in the Westin Convention Center ballroom were FR director Dr. Walter Smith and prez Nancy Keegan; Elizabeth and Denis McCarthy; Dorrit and Dave Tuthill; Armondo and Manny Cahouet Rotondi; Judge Jill Rangos; and Mardi and Bill Isler.

Web world. Move over eBay, make way for the maroon blazers. As in St. Edmunds Academy's online auction (instead of the silent kind) that primed its Great Event Party. The venerable Pittsburgh Golf Club was filled with parents and cool mini-versions of the blazer they've buttoned their kids into since 1946. Among the paddle-wavers bidding on luxe trips, dream golf outings and such, knocked down by former Sotheby's auctioneer Pam Sherer (she's wed to head of school Tony), were co-chairs Deb Ladley and Loretta Stanish; Laurie and Jim Bly; Mary Jo Miller and Jay Devine; Lisa and Ray Wroblewski; Janet Hunt; Jane and Lenwood Nicholson; Lori and Tom Hardiman; Cindy Mosites; Dr. Lissa and Tim Hazel; and Caroline and Tom Wentling.

Solid gold. The great Billy Price band played the Annivery Waltz and fox trots, too, at St. Clair Hospital's elegant 50th celebration at the Hilton Garden Inn, Southpoint, to benefit SCH's new patient information system. Cindy Allen and Carol Fatigati (with Rick and Dr. Mario) co-chaired the elegant Harlequin Ball, themed "Reflections of the Past," for 300 black-ties including Jo Ellen and Dr. Alan Yeasted; Mary Blume; Julia and Ben Snead; Ming and Tom Medwig; Drs. Martha Clark and Raymond Capone; Harriett and Montie Rae; and Cathie and Tom Ague.

More Fanfare headlines

• The Monster Mash
• Magic Act
• Sucker Punch
• Fanfare: Pointe in Time celebration a ball
• Fanfare: Touch Down
• Fanfare: Piece de Resistance
• Fanfare: Wild Things
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