Get the Inside Story: Coffee and a Dead Canary
Get the Inside Story
Coffee and a Dead Canary
Coffee and a Dead Canary
WHAT IS IT?
A vibrant triple-bill of Baroque "tiny operas" – Bach’s Coffee Cantata and Telemann’s Canary Cantata, and Bernier’s witty French cantata Le Caffé. Performed by 3 singers and 7 players on Baroque period instruments.
WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
Coffee Cantata: A playful tug-of-war between a coffee-obsessed daughter and her disapproving father.
Canary Cantata: A witty yet surprisingly moving farewell to a beloved pet canary.
Le Caffé an ode that praises the qualities of the beloved drink that ravishes the soul and fuels the mind.
Everyday stories transformed into brilliant mini-operas.
WHY SEE IT?
Laugh, be moved, and discover a different side of Baroque opera. These witty mini-masterpieces pack big emotion into just 75 minutes – perfect for pairing with dinner or drinks!
WHO'S PERFORMING?
Acclaimed Australian opera singers Ariana Ricci, Nicholas Jones, and Morgan Pearse join the Orchestra of the Antipodes for an unforgettable performance on period instruments, creating a fun and vibrant Baroque sound-world.
PERFECT FOR..
Opera lovers, curious newcomers, coffee enthusiasts, bird lovers, and anyone looking for a joyful escape with beautiful music and storytelling.
What to expect.
Audiences can expect a delightful, high-energy 75-minute theatrical experience designed to cast a caffeinated spell over the room and leave them feeling utterly refreshed. Presented as a Baroque Revue, Coffee & a Dead Canary brings together four distinct, self-contained 18th-century miniatures by Bernier, Buffardin, Telemann, and J.S. Bach, transporting viewers seamlessly between the opulence of Versailles and the vibrant bustle of German coffee houses. Rather than forcing a single plot, director Eugene Lynch and designer Melanie Liertz unite these eccentric gems through a shared visual language of 1950s glamour, playfulness, and glorious absurdity. Threaded together by themes of coffee, death, wit, and a touch of spectacle, the production flows effortlessly from one story to the next, brimming with visual humor and magical surprises.
Who's who in Coffee Cantata?
Café Zimmermann and the birth of the Coffee Cantata
Long before modern coffee shops, Café Zimmermann in Leipzig, Germany, was the ultimate Baroque cultural hub. In the 1700s, coffeehouses weren't just places to grab a drink—they were vibrant centres of intellectual debates, social life, and cutting-edge music.
Café Zimmermann was the home base for the Collegium Musicum, a lively music society founded in 1702 by a young university student named Georg Philipp Telemann. Decades later, Johann Sebastian Bach took over as director from 1729 to 1741.
Free from the rigid constraints of church and royal court, this relaxed venue allowed Bach to experiment with secular, instrumental, and comic music. It was here—surrounded by the aroma of freshly brewed coffee—that Bach premiered his satirical Coffee Cantata, poking fun at Leipzig’s newest middle-class obsession
A Funeral & Telemann’s Canary Cantata
While Bach was poking fun at caffeine addiction, his good friend Telemann was applying the exact same theatrical wit to another domestic crisis: the death of a pet bird.
Composed in 1737, Telemann’s Canary Cantata (Funeral Music for an Artistically Trained Canary) treats a minor household tragedy with over-the-top opera seriousness. Written as a solo cantata about the mourning of a beloved pet canary, Telemann brilliantly parodies opera seria (serious Baroque opera)—using sorrowful recitatives, dramatic leaps, and fiery aria passages to express the singer's exaggerated grief and passionate calls for vengeance.
By using grand opera forms for a delightfully trivial subject, Telemann created one of his most endearing and funniest vocal masterworks.
Listen to the Music
Open in Spotify to hear the full tracks
