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Prague's Crystal Ball
This magical event is full of fantasy, colors, music, delicious food and joy - it takes place in the magnificent halls of the Palace of Lords of Clam-Gallas
By: Mary Gostelow
Costumed party-goers came from all over the world for Prague's annual Crystal Ball, Saturday February 21st, 2009, says Mary Gostelow.
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Thanks to the dedicated support of Mamaison Hotels & Apartments, there were participants from Germany, Norway, the UK and USA. Everyone dressed magnificently. You were not allowed in unless you were in historic uniform, and face masks. Think, for the men, brocade coats and britches, colored hose and shoes with big bows, and a variety of hats or wigs. Think, for their ladies, four foot-wide hip paniers or full hoops, gowns that would have done Madame de Pompadour proud, and wigs or, in the case of the WOW.travel representative, a three foot-wide straw hat with a full-size bird on top. The whole production was masterminded by Triglaw Corporage.
The Ball was held at the Palace of Lords of Clam-Gallas, named for the 18th century Johann Wenzel Count von Gallas, a Habsburg ambassador to London, a delegate to the Papal Curia, the Highest Marshal of the Bohemian Crown, a Member of the Privy Council, a Knight of the Golden Fleece Order, and a Spanish Grandee. It was designed for him in 1714 by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach from Vienna, whose other Baroque creations include The Imperial Palace at Schönbrunn and many Hofburg buildings. On the Palace of Lords of Clam-Gallas Fischer von Erlach worked with stonemason Domenico Antonio Rappa, painters Rochus Bulla, Giovanni Girolamo Fiumberti and Santino Bossi, and wood specialists Baltazar Christian Fischer and Johann Philipp Knapp. A lot of the murals that embellish the palace's ceilings are attributed to Carlo Innocenzo Carloni, who also conceived the murals in the Viennese Summer Palace – Belvedere of Prince Eugen von Savoy-Carignano. For the Palace of Lords of Clam-Gallas Carloni came up with frescoes that picture allegorical scenes from antique mythology. Apollo’s triumph over the demons of darkness is displayed above the upper hall part of the palace stairs. Frescoes in the adjacent chambers Piano Nobile depict the Gathering of Olympic Gods, Apotheosis of Arts and Sciences, Flora throwing flowers, and Luna with Helios and Stars. Mozart and Beethoven, in 1787 and 1796 respectively, performed in the Piano Nobile. The Gallas Family were generous benefactors of visual arts, music, and theater so it is appropriate that their home, which now belongs to the City of Prague, today hosts the carnival's Crystal Ball.
At 8:30pm participants in Prague's annual Crystal Ball were already dressed, by a bevy of keen local people who included seamstresses, hairdressers and make up artists. Devil-costumed stuntmen on tall stilts got in the way, but who cared? Two by two, party-goers entered a throne room to be announced to, and pay allegiance to, a couple on thrones who called themselves the Count and Countess of Clam-Gallas. Then it was through to yet another beautiful salon for drinks and music, and thence onto another room for an excellent buffet, a chamber orchestra in attendance.
The food came from Zatisigroup, whose President/CEO Sanjiv Sur heads several of Prague's best restaurants. For the ball, his team
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produced salads and cold platters that included delicious Moravian smoked pork with traditional vegetables. Main dishes included a local stroganoff of beef tenderloin, and, the WOW.travel favorite, home-made tagliatelle with basil pesto and parmesan. Desserts were panacotta with fruit, Sacher cake with vanilla sauce and cheeses. We drank local wines, a Riesling-Ryzlink rynsky 2005 Kabinet-Michlovsky - and a Pinot Noir, Rulandske modré 2004 Cícha.
After that, we moved on through to yet another room, for minuets and other dances, fortunately led by a professional teacher. Somehow after that a belly-dancer appeared, as did the next day...
The WOW.travel delegation woke up in the historic Mamaison Prague Pachtuv Palace, two minutes' walk from the historic Charles Bridge. It was snowing heavily, but we somehow did a quick run up to the Castle before breakfast - the hotel provides a copious spread with lots of whole and prepared fresh fruits and outstanding breads, cold cuts and your choice of hot dish. (The 50-room hotel, formed out of three palaces named for Earl Karel Pachtuv, has a 24-hour gym.)
The Ball was, by that next day, merely a happy memory - were we really dancing minuets only a few hours ago? Fortunately it is just one of the highlights in the annual Prague Carnival, maso-pusť in Czech, which in 2009 ran February 13-24. Earliest records show Shrovetide celebrations in Bohemia and Moravia dating back to the second half of the 13th century. At that time Czech lands were not threatened by conflict and towns flourished. Aristocrats decided to copy the Shrovetime celebrations they had seen when traveling abroad. Recent years have seen a revival of these traditions.
This year, on the same Saturday as the Ball, for instance, there was an afternoon parade of masques, first in the Old Town Square and then at the Hotel InterContinental Praha. The following day started with an Old Bohemian hog-killing, pork feast and traditional music, a photo studio and a kids' carnival studio, and a special performance at Viohrady’s Little Theatre.
Next Carnevale is February 5-16, 2010, and the Crystal Ball is on February 13th, 2010.
Mamaison Suite Hotel Pachtuv Palac Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
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