2018
Badrutt’s Palace Cocktail Reception
The Swiss have a gift for amusing themselves while pleasing their guests. In conjunction with the Snow Polo World Cup, which takes place annually in St. Moritz, Cristina and I were graciously invited to the Badrutt’s Palace Cocktail Reception.
Here tout le monde gathered to seep Perrier-Jouët, tasting bocadillos while listening to the last pettegolezzi and – a very few – setting the bases for multimillion-dollar international deals.
Unlike my colleagues-photographers, mostly wearing big professional flashes on their cameras, I have showed-up at the reception only with the minuscule 35 mm ƒ/2 attached to the Nikon, relying just on the automated ISO of the D810. As an indiscreet fly, unnoticed among all other ordinary suits and tuxedos, I’ve been roaming the halls of the historic St. Moritz hotel, trying to catch the spirit of the time.
At the climax of the party, General Elchin Guliyev, President of the Equestrian Federation of the Azerbaijan Republic, has thrown himself into a heated ethnic dance, followed in his footsteps by an unbridled Marquise Roberta Gilardi Sestito.
Many of the guests felt compelled by the rhythm of the music to join them in front of the orchestra of the Azeri Republic which kept the air filled with the charming notes of the Land of Fire.
