Mozart dinner in Prague: what to book

What the ticket covers

The ticket is a place at a table for a Mozart concert with a three-course dinner in the Boccaccio ballroom, a historic hall in the basement of the Grand Hotel Bohemia in Prague's Old Town. Between the courses, two opera singers and a group of instrumentalists perform arias, duets and chamber music in period costume. The booking page puts the whole evening at roughly two and a half hours, and each calendar date carries its own start time. Decide the date before anything else; its start time will shape your other plans. The booking page also marks the evening as available for small groups, and as a live show with the performers in period costume.

• Three short Mozart segments between the courses
• A three-course dinner with a meat, vegetarian or children's menu
• A welcome drink; every other drink is bought on the night
• Admission to the ballroom, which has a wheelchair-accessible entrance

How the night unfolds

The evening alternates music and food. After a welcome, the first segment draws on Don Giovanni and the first course follows it. A second segment, a selection from Mozart's operas, comes before the main course, and a last segment from The Magic Flute comes before dessert. Because the singing is woven through the meal instead of packed into one block at the start or the end, the music and the dinner set each other's pace, and there is no long wait between a course and the next piece. Each segment is short, so nobody sits through a long concert before eating. The programme guide on this site walks through the pieces segment by segment.

Read next: The Mozart programme, part by part

Who performs

The programme is performed by the ensemble Amadeus Prague, which brings together two opera singers from Czech opera houses and instrumentalists from the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, all dressed in period costume. Guests describe a lively, sometimes humorous staging of well-known pieces rather than a stiff recital. Singers' names are not part of what you book, so choose the evening for the music and the room rather than for a particular cast. The programme and the performers can change from one date to another, and this page cannot promise a specific line-up. The performers appear in period costume, and the programme is built from well-known Mozart pieces.

Choosing a menu and budgeting drinks

The three-course dinner is served in three versions: with meat, vegetarian, or designed for children. Each course follows a music segment, so the meal keeps pace with the concert. The cooking draws on Czech and Austrian recipes, and menus change, which is why this page names no dishes. For an allergy or other dietary need, write to the organiser through your booking confirmation well before the date, not at the table on the night, so the kitchen can plan. The ticket includes a welcome drink. Every other drink is bought on the night, and guests' reviews single out drink prices as the part of the evening to budget for.

Choosing a seat

Seats are allocated on the night by an event manager, depending on how full the room is and on the seat category you booked, so you cannot reserve a numbered chair. The booking page shows the categories offered for your date. Guests mention balcony seats and tables for two as upgrades they were glad to have, and one notes that the floor is arranged differently depending on the bookings, with large group tables on some nights. If the view or some privacy matters to you, choose a higher category. For the music and the dinner alone, standard seating is enough.

The calendar and cancellation

Start on the booking page by entering the party size, then scan several dates; the calendar lists open slots with the price for each guest. You can cancel free of charge until 24 hours ahead, and settling the bill later keeps seats held while a trip firms up. One reservation for the whole party gives a single confirmation. Before paying, confirm the language and currency shown at the top.

Groups, celebrations and special requests

The booking page marks small-group bookings as available, and one guest who came with nine people reports being seated according to the comments left with the booking. Seat allocation remains the event manager's decision on the night, so a note helps but cannot promise that a large party sits at one table. For a birthday or an anniversary, book the higher seat category for the extra privacy that guests describe, and tell the organiser through your confirmation instead of the table staff. The evening is already structured around a shared meal, so it suits a celebration without extra planning.

A checklist before you book

A few decisions make the booking quick, and they are easier to make together than one at a time at the checkout. Settle them with your party before you reserve, because the calendar shows seats and fares only for the party size you enter. Open the booking page on a laptop or a phone with your confirmation email nearby, since the same address and contact details are used for the meeting-point information.

• The date, checked against your other plans and the start time shown for it
• The menu for each guest: meat, vegetarian or children's
• The seat category, from the options on the booking page
• A drinks budget, since only the welcome drink is included
• The language and currency shown on the booking page

Dinner concert, concert only or a river dinner?

Prague has plenty of evening music, and the comparison is simple. A classical concert in a Baroque church lasts about an hour, has no dinner and suits travellers who want only music. A river cruise with a buffet and live music is a relaxed three-hour dinner with views rather than a concert. The Mozart ballroom evening is the one that puts a full, seated dinner and a focused Mozart programme in a single historic room. The last guide on this site compares the three in more detail.

Read next: Mozart dinner, church or river?

Why Prague suits a Mozart evening

Mozart wrote for this city. The Marriage of Figaro was a success in Prague in the winter of 1786 to 1787, he conducted it here in January 1787, and Don Giovanni was first performed on 29 October 1787 at the theatre now called the Estates Theatre. A dinner concert built on those operas is therefore a way of hearing music that belongs to Prague, not a theme laid over it. Mozart also gave the first performance of his Symphony No. 38 here on 19 January 1787, which is why it carries the city's name, and La clemenza di Tito was first performed here in September 1791. The ballroom itself is a different building, opened in 1927, with no link to Mozart's own time.

Who this isn't for

This is not a full opera, and nobody sings a complete role: the segments are short and made of highlights. It is also not a quiet, formal recital, because it is a dinner with a room of guests eating. Travellers who want a staged production should look at a theatre's own season, travellers on a tight budget may find drinks add up, and anyone who needs an early finish should check the start time for their date before booking. Families with children under six are outside the age the evening is suited to.