• ensemble of the Royal Infantry Regiment of Baron Wernhardt: participating ensemble
• JEŠKO, Ludevít: director of ensemble

Mercy‘s Anzeiger 4/1/1857 published an advertisement announcing the availability of subscription tickets for the series of  5 ‘Soirées dansantes’ to take place on specified dates in January and February. The series culminated in a ‘Concert together with Festival Ball’ on 18th February.’ Tickets could be obtained from the music shop of Robert Veit. This advertisement was repeated in the newspaper on 5/1/1857.

A large advertisement was published by Mercy’s Anzeiger 7/1/1857 announcing that a musical trial of dance compositions to be given at the ‘Flora Fest-Ball’ on 18/2/1857 and at the forthcoming series of Soirées dansantes [the dates of which were also specified], would take place on 8th January. This source identified the participating ensemble at the trial [ensemble of the Infantry Regiment of Baron von Wernhardt] and noted that it would be personally directed by Kapellmeister L. Jeschko [Ješko]. Whether this ensemble participated in the series of later events was not evident from later sources, although this seems likely and is therefore noted in this event record of the third Soirée in this series. Subscription cards were available for gentlemen [ladies were not specified] at 3kr for each of the Soirées dansantes with admission too to the final Fest-Ball. A subscription to all events cost 50kr. These could be obtained from the music shop of Rob. Veit. This advertisement was published again in Mercy’s Anzeiger on 8/1/1857. Further advertisements announcing the dates of the Soirées dansantes and final Ball, and the procedure for buying tickets, were published in later issues of Mercy’s Anzeiger from 12/1/1857.

A new advertisment with similar wording but with updated information on admission costs to the later events in this series was published in Mercy’s Anzeiger 26/1/1857. Announcing the ‘3rd Soiré-dansante with Concert’, the text related that a subscription to the 3 final soirées and to the closing ‘Flora-Festballes’ cost 1fl 48kr. Advance tickets to each individual event cost 50kr, and admission on the door at the time of the event was 1fl. Admission to the Soirée was at 6pm and the event ended at 12 o’clock. The advertisement was repeated in Mercy’s Anzeiger on 27th, 28th and 29/1/1857.

The character of this series of ‘Soirées dansantes, mit Concert’ was revealed by a report appearing in Mercy’s Anzeiger 13/1/1857, which related that ‘At the first Soirée dansante, with Concert, which takes place on Thursday of this week in the Konvikt Hall, the following concert pieces will be performed during the interval...’ The three works noted in the database programme record for that event were then listed, along with their respective performers. Thus, this series of events comprised dancing with a ‘concert’ providing interval entertainment.

A brief review of the event appeared in Tagesbote aus Böhmen 31/1/1857. The correspondent, signed ‘Egf.’, reported: ‘At the 3rd Soirée dansante, which took place last Thursday in the Konvikt Hall, the Ball Committee had once again offered everything [i.e. pulled out all the stops] to arrange an entertaining evening for all participants; the organization was brilliant and the society was select. During the interval the members of the orchestra of the Royal Estates Theatre, Messrs J. Jandl and Stanek, gave a Duo for 2 violins, and gained rich applause for their playing, as did Mr J. Schwarz who so expressively rendered a cozy soirée song by Weidt Wie schön bist du, which he was required to encore.’