Content copyright . Naomi Forman. All rights reserved.
What happens when you can’t get your daily fix, coffee or otherwise?!
Sung in English and set in everyone’s favorite coffee house, it’s Bach like you’ve never seen it before!
The professional cast is made up of faculty from
and is a Canadian Actor’s Equity Association Fringe Co-op Production, with direction by Donna Fletcher.
Q: What's the story line?
a: Schlendrian (David Klassen) is an old-fashioned sort of guy, who detests living today’s fast-paced world characterized by coffee-to-go. Meanwhile, his sister Lieschen (Naomi Forman) is hopelessly addicted to coffee and has a huge crush on her barista,
Q: Did Bach really create a role called "Taylor the Latte Boy"
a: No, of course not! Schlendrian (baritone) and Lieschen (soprano) are the original names from the cantata (although in the original story they were father/daughter and in our production they will be brother/sister) but the tenor role was simply called "Narrator". Since our production includes additional pieces of music about coffee, including Goldrich's "Taylor the Latte Boy" a name change was in order.
Q: So, are you steering quite far away from Bach's original score and libretto?
a: Actually, no. All the music of Bach's Coffee Cantata will be performed by classically-trained music professionals, and the storyline remains basically the same. However, with the addition of four extra songs about coffee, we get a nice twist to the storyline and a surprise ending. But that's what the Fringe is all about, right?
Q: Why the Coffee Cantata?
a: The timing was right. it's been a few years since an opera has been produced at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, and some very talented professionals were available to take part in this production. Plus, it's fun, it's audience friendly, and it has never been staged in Winnipeg before. Bach's music is beautiful, but tends to be rather esoteric in nature. The Coffee Cantata is very down to earth!
Q: So the Coffee Cantata is an opera?
a: Well, technically, no. It's a "Drama per Musica" (drama with music), but when it is fully staged, it is for all intents and purposes, a mini-opera.
Q: How "mini"?
a: The Cantata is only 24 minutes long. Add about 15 additional minutes of music and some dialog and the running time for the show is about 45 minutes in total. That gives the audience plenty of time to enjoy a coffee after the show!
Q: Wasn't most of Bach's vocal music written to be performed in church?
a: Yes, most of Bach's music was "sacred", but he did write around 20 "secular" cantatas, the most famous being The Coffee Cantata (B.W.V. 211).
Q: Why did Bach compose this particular piece?
a: There's a rather long story here, but, in a nutshell, Bach was the director of the Leipzig Collegium Musicum, which was founded by Georg Philipp Telemann in, I think, 1702. Bach's Collegium Musicum performed regularly in a local Leipzig coffee house known as Zimmerman's Coffee House, and this is where the Coffee Cantata had it's premiere in 1734.
Q: Where did Bach get the idea?
a: It was based on a libretto by Picander, although Bach changed the original ending. The story goes that many of Bach's daughters (he had 20 children!) were enthusiastic coffee drinkers and didn't like Picander's original ending. So, I think Bach's daughters would be okay with us adding a twist on our Fringe Festival ending too!
Q: What was the deal with coffee back in Bach's time?
a: If you can believe it, coffee was very controversial in those days, not because it contained caffeine, but because it was from the Far East (it was introduced to Europe during the Crusades) and anyone who drank it was considered "suspect". Also, there was this burgeoning middle class in Europe, and they drank a lot of coffee which annoyed the upper classes, who prefered wine. The middle classes, hyped on caffeine, could now "burn the midnight oil" and became more productive and therefore more wealthy, while the nobility drank wine which made them sleepy and lazy, slowly closing the economic gap between the two groups. Also, coffee couldn't be brewed at home like we do today, and had to be consumed at coffee houses, where "radicals" would gather and dream of a new world order, which would, eventually, lead to things like the French Revolution and the downfall of the nobility in Europe. All because of a cup of coffee!
Audience: Suitable for all ages
Running time: 45 minutes
