BaL 2.10.21 - Bach: Coffee Cantata – BWV 211

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 Building a Library
Simon Heighes compares recordings of Bach's Coffee Cantata and chooses his favourite.
Among Bach's secular cantatas, perhaps the most famous and frequently recorded is Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht – the Coffee Cantata – BWV 211. Probably composed in 1734 for a performance at Leipzig's Zimmermann Coffee House with the student group collegium musicum, the comic cantata satirises the Saxon obsession with coffee, depicting a family dispute between father and daughter, Schlendrian and Liesgen, at odds about the benefits of the hot drink.

Available versions:-

Istvan Gati, Ingrid Kertesi, Jozsef Mukk, Budapest Failoni Chamber Orchestra, Matyas Antal
Elly Ameling, Collegium Aureum
Wilfrid Jochims, Claus Ocker, Elisabeth Speiser, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Rudolf Ewerhart
Reinoud Van Mechelen, Lisandro Abadie, Hana Blažiková, Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin
Lynne Dawson, Nicolas Robertson, Stephen Alder, Friends of Apollo
Emma Kirkby, Rogers Covey-Crump, David Thomas, Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood *
Amsterdam Baroque Soloists, Ton Koopman
Dorothea Roschmann, Hugues Saint-Gelais, Kevin McMillan, Les Violons du Roy, Bernard Labadie
Brett Polegato, Suzie LeBlanc, Nils Brown, Tafelmusik, Jeanne Lamon *
Barbara Bonney, Christoph Prégardien, David Wilson-Johnson, Choir of the Age of Enlightenment, Ralf Popken, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Gustav Leonhardt
Aldo Baldin, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Julia Varady, Academy of St. Martin of the Fields, Neville Marriner
Krisztina Laki, Attila Fulop, Istvan Gati, Capella Savaria, Pal Nemeth *
Sibylla Rubens, Christine Schäfer, James Taylor, Thomas Quasthoff, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling *
Edith Mathis, Peter Schreier, Theo Adam, Berlin Chamber Orchestra, Peter Schreier *
Ann Monoyios, Stephen Oosting, John Ostendorf, Amor Artis Chorale & Orchestra, Johannes Somary *
Makoto Sakurada, Stephan Schreckenberger, Carolyn Sampson, Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki (SACD)

(* = download only)

[oddoneout]

I suppose they can't include this one... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6Loyexw3uk

[Quarky]

Thanks for that, it filled a gap in my breakfast listening space!

[BBMmk2]

This be rather a good one.

[Darloboy]

I think the Coffee Cantata has only been covered by BaL once before; a programme in January 1988 presented by George Pratt covering both the Coffee and Peasant Cantatas. I'm afraid I don't know what he recommended. Looking forward to this programme, especially as it's presented by the ever-reliable Simon Heighes.

[MickyD]

A shame the Hogwood version is now download only. I loved the original cover photo with Emma Kirkby in her mob cap and David Thomas sporting a powdered wig!

[CallMePaul]

My Rilling was stolen in a burglary in 1998 and I have never replaced it, or bought another recording. If I were to buy one today it would probably be Suzuki but I will listen with interest!

[crb11]

A shame the Hogwood version is now download only. I loved the original cover photo with Emma Kirkby in her mob cap and David Thomas sporting a powdered wig!

I think this is my preferred version - I listened to several in preparation for performing in it as the narrator, and it's one of the few that I felt made it sound funny. But the video posted upthread is better - I shall confess to stealing some inspiration from it!

[ardcarp]

I suppose they can't include this one... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6Loyexw3uk

Thanks from me too! Brilliant. I love the Netherlands Bach Society anyway; and the Camp Coffee was an unexpected pleasure.

[Goon525]

A manageable number of versions to consider for once.

[Goon525]

A manageable number of versions to consider for once.

Am I the only one listening? A perfectly sound BaL, I’d have said, with the duo format less objectionable than it often is.

[Quarky]

Always admire Simon Heighes' analyses.

He makes a very fine Barista, filtering out the essential flavours.

[gurnemanz]

Am I the only one listening? A perfectly sound BaL, I’d have said, with the duo format less objectionable than it often is.

I was. An enjoyable listen. It looked like Suzuki from fairly early on. which seemed a good choice. I also liked Emma Kirkby for Hogwood. I have Schreier, dismissed right at the start as too trad and Harnoncourt, somewhat surprisingly no longer in the catalogue. Both decent enough versions and I probably don't need another.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Am I the only one listening? A perfectly sound BaL, I’d have said, with the duo format less objectionable than it often is.

I was listening. The problem is I find the Coffee Cantata a really irritating piece of music - never more so than when sung by the otherwise impeccable Peter Schreier.

[Goon525]

It’s not something I’d want to listen to very often - but the Suzuki does sound worth a (virtual) spin.