WHEN THE GRANDE dame of Houston philanthropy steps up to chair the annual gala for one of Houston’s most elite cultural institutions, expect high elegance to abound and big bucks to roll in.

Such was exactly the case when Margaret Alkek Williams chaired the Opera Ball at the Wortham Center, raising a record of more than $2 million for Houston Grand Opera — with a romantic, old-school, spring-savvy “Love Is in the Air” theme, brought to life with thousands of fragrant pastel-colored florals at every turn, and a sea of ballgowns in shades of seasonal pink and green. This was the second $2 million+ ball Williams has chaired for HGO, with this year’s haul beating her own personal best from back in 2014.

A surprise highlight of the evening was a stirring performance honoring the gala’s honorees, Dian and Harlan Stai, who have supported the opera company for decades. HGO General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor “welcomed legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade to the stage, where she performed accompanied [on piano] by HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers,” noted a rep for the company. “Her moving interpretation of Stephen Sondheim’s seminal classic, ‘Send in the Clowns,’ left the audience spellbound.”

Dinner was decadent, with a chilled Romanesco soup, a pairing of prime beef and pan-seared seabass, and an chocolate explosion of a dessert, with bits of fudge cake and chocolate ice cream and mousse, all bursting from a tempered sphere — again, lavishly old school. After dinner, dancing broke out on the gleaming dance floor.

In room full of VIPs, some of the top-tier swells included Anna Dean, Anne and Albert Chao, Betty and Jesse Tutor, Brigitte Kalai, Alicia Smith, Charles and Lily Foster, Cynthia and Tony Petrello, Fady Armanious, Bill Baldwin, Franklin and Cindi Rose, Hallie Vanderhider, Jim and Dancie Ware, Jim and Molly Crownover and Leisa Holland-Nelson Bowman.

Brigitte Kalai, Betty Tutor and Ann Ayre (photo by Michelle Watson)

A greeter in theme-appropriate garb (photo by Michelle Watson)

Ilyas and Elizabeth Abraham (photo by Emily Jaschke)

Margaret Alkek Williams and Khori Dastoor (photo by Michelle Watson)

Frederica von Stade (photo by Michelle Watson)

Jim and Dancie Ware (photo by Michelle Watson)

Michael Broderick and Cindy and Franklin Rose (photo by Emily Jaschke)

Harland and Dian Stai (photo by Emily Jaschke)

Jonathan and Ann Ayre and Rachel and Warren Ellsworth (photo by Michelle Watson)

Rosemin Premji, Jesse Tutor and Farida Abjani (photo by Michelle Watson)