{"id":111421,"date":"2025-02-03T10:57:10","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T15:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=111421"},"modified":"2025-02-03T11:00:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T16:00:16","slug":"scrutiny-joy-bach-opera-request-brings-coffee-cantata-hamilton-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/02\/03\/scrutiny-joy-bach-opera-request-brings-coffee-cantata-hamilton-cafe\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | The Joy Of Bach: Opera By Request Brings Coffee Cantata To Hamilton Caf\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L-R:
L-R: Soprano Michaela Chiste, tenor Cameron Mazzei, Opera by Request Music Director & pianist William Shookhoff; baritones Taylor Gibbs and Nathan Dyck (Photo: Anya Wassenberg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opera By Request<\/a> \u2014 Bach: Coffee Cantata & Peasant Cantata. Soprano Michaela Chiste, tenor Cameron Mazzei, baritones Nathan Dyck and Taylor Gibbs. Feb. 1, 2025 at the Crown and Press Caf\u00e9, Hamilton, ON.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This past weekend (Feb. 1), Toronto\u2019s Opera by Request headed west to perform Bach\u2019s Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, BWV 212, the Peasant Cantata, and Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht, BWV 211, aka the Coffee Cantata, in a Hamilton caf\u00e9. The same double bill was performed in Toronto at the College St. United Church on January 25.<\/p>\n

The Crown and Press<\/a>, a caf\u00e9\/art gallery, was the eminently suitable setting for the performance. As a venue, it\u2019s both spacious and intimate, offering table seating along with a few rows of chairs near the stage area at the back. Paintings and other art objects are displayed in the same area, adding to the ambience.<\/p>\n

A quartet of young singers \u2014 soprano Michaela Chiste, tenor Cameron Mazzei, and baritones Nathan Dyck and Taylor Gibbs \u2014 debated the new governor, and then the addictive nature of coffee in engaging performances.<\/p>\n

About the Performers<\/h3>\n

The singers brought both the music and the humour of Bach\u2019s secular cantatas to life with a palpable sense of fun.<\/p>\n

Tenor Cameron Mazzei<\/strong> is Toronto native. He\u2019s studying towards his Diploma of Operatic Performance at the University of Toronto. That follows a Masters in Music Literature & Performance from Western University, and a Bachelors of Music Performance (hon. Voice) at Western University. He\u2019s performed a variety of roles at the UofT and Western.<\/p>\n

Taylor Gibbs<\/strong>, baritone, grew up in Stouffville, Ontario, and is a graduate of York University. Toronto audiences will recognize him from his frequent performances with Toronto Operetta Theatre and VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert, along with other Opera by Request productions. He has also performed with the Orpheus Choir, and continues his studies privately with Jason Howard.<\/p>\n

Baritone Nathan Dyck<\/strong> is a native of Manitoba, and his performance history includes work in choral music, musical theatre and opera. He toured the province with the Manitoba Underground Opera as Papa Bear in a children\u2019s musical. Nathan earned a Masters in Vocal Performance and Literature at Western in spring 2023, and is based in London.<\/p>\n

Soprano Michaela Chiste<\/strong> comes from Okotoks, Alberta, where her studies and performing life began in the world of musical theatre and dramatic arts. She made the switch to classical singing in 2013, and completed a Bachelor of Music at the Unversity of Alberta in 2017, followed by a Master\u2019s in Vocal Literature and Performance at the University of Western Ontario. She has performed as a concert soloist and recitalist across Canada and internationally.<\/p>\n

The Performances<\/h3>\n

Bach\u2019s secular cantatas are full of humour and sly social observations, and all four of the performers brought both dramatic and vocal skills to the table. First up was The Peasant Cantata, performed by Michaela Chiste and Baritone Nathan Dyck.<\/p>\n

The full title, Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, translated as \u2018We have a new governor\u2019, reveals the focus. A farmer and his wife Mieke laugh about the tax collector, and gossip about the new governor\u2019s wife. They finish by cheering on the new official \u2014 in truth, hereditary lord Carl Heinrich von Dieskau, chamberlain to the Elector of Saxony. The work was debuted at his 36th birthday celebrations in 1742. While the work, naturally, ends by celebrating Dieskau, it\u2019s the flirty relationship between the couple that provides the humour.<\/p>\n

The duo was nicely matched as vocalists, and the duo passages were a highlight. A well crafted sense of character enlivened the push and pull of a married couple\u2019s relationship throughout the piece.<\/p>\n

For the Coffee Cantata, Cameron Mazzei provided an engaging Narrator, with Taylor Gibbs as Schlendrian, and Michaela Chiste as his caffeine-addicted daughter Lieschen. It\u2019s Bach at probably his most lyrically accessible \u2014 a parent complaining about their child, and coffee as an all consuming love.<\/p>\n

On that note, diction was excellent in all performers, with special props to soprano Michaela Chiste and her clear, soaring soprano that made every word understandable. Mazzei has an impressive high register, and a charismatic stage presence \u2014 not that any of the four were lacking in that respect.<\/p>\n

Nathan Dyck reappeared near the end as the first hapless, then pragmatically accepting future husband of Lieschen, captured by her father after a brief search through the caf\u00e9. Dyck and Gibbs both have a nice feel for comedy, along with a gift for juggling the heroic and funnier moments in the music well.<\/p>\n

The cantata ended with its highlight, Die Katze l\u00e4\u00dft das Mausen nicht (The Cats don’t leave the mice alone..) where the trio sing together as they all come to the realization that coffee is life.<\/p>\n

With its dimensions and a lot of hard surfaces, as a venue the caf\u00e9 tends towards loud, and the music filled the space.<\/p>\n

Pianist (and OBR music director) William Shookhoff<\/strong> provided able accompaniment throughout, including several solo passages ably acquitted on a whitewashed upright piano, complete with a classic, slightly tinny upright timbre.<\/p>\n

\"Caf\u00e9
Caf\u00e9 ambience for opera at the Crown and Press Caf\u00e9 Gallery in Hamilton, ON (Photo: Anya Wassenberg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

The venue was nicely full with a crowd that was mixed in age from 20-somethings to the usual 55+ suspects, the mood casual to midwinter chic \u2014 a cross section of the cultured and the hip that bodes well for the future of this kind of performance.<\/p>\n

Other companies like Against the Grain and Opera Revue have taken opera out of the concert hall to great success. This is just further proof of the viability of this kind of venue as an enduring alternative for classical music performance, and not simply a big city fad.<\/p>\n

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This past weekend (Feb. 1), Toronto\u2019s Opera by Request headed west to perform Bach\u2019s Peasant Cantata and Coffee Cantata in a Hamilton caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":111426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,74,19,6992,43,52,63],"tags":[41712,41713,41715,4993,41714,9578],"yst_prominent_words":[10284],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/Copy_of_REVIEW_19.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-sZ7","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111421"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111421"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111429,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111421\/revisions\/111429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111421"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=111421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}