Review: Bach's Coffee Cantata

Be single while enjoying coffee or abstain from it and get the guy of your dreams? That's the plot basically!

I associated Bach with two things usually: religiosity and mastery of counterpoint. Never had I thought that coffee would come into place! Now why coffee? Because the legend composed a secular cantata that is basically an operetta about a daughter wanting her dose of joe while her dad just flat out says “no”. Now the actual title of this work is Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Stay still, don’t talk). Apparently, the daughter was a chatterbox, and her dad was not having it, not to mention his daughter LOVES her coffee and will not give it up regardless of her dad’s ultimatums. Spoiler alert: the dad kind of “wins” in making her daughter stop drinking coffee by basically threatening her that she will not get the guy of her dreams if she continues her obsession with a cup of joe; the daughter gets the last laugh though as she will ensure that her new guy will ALWAYS get her coffee. Absolutely based and Coffee pilled. Now note here, it can just be performed as is like any other work, but people decided to stage it like madmen to add some comedy.

Bach with his humor makes it amazing to depict this nonsensical drama musically. He placed much effort over a cup of coffee. I wonder how many cups he consumed while he was composing, teaching, and performing, plus outside of that, taking care of a LOT of kids. I believe if Bach saw the average college student’s consumption of coffee, he’d be going nuts! Now of course, this work is technically not an opera, but I am certain this will be a GREAT starting point for them because it is relatable!

Here is the Coffee Cantata produced by the Queen City Opera: