Harnoncourt conducts Bach: Coffee Cantata, Orchestral Suite No. 3 etc.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his Concentus Musicus Wien are joined by Peter Schreier, Janet Perry and Robert Holl for this delightful filmed performance of Bach's witty Cantata "Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht" – better known as the Coffee Cantata. As with all of Bach's secular cantatas, it was composed for a specific occasion and most likely first heard in Zimmerman's Coffee House in Leipzig. Gently mocking the contemporary coffee-drinking trend, it is in all but name a mini opera, in which the grumpy Schlendrian berates his daughter, Lieschen, for her caffeine habit and hatches a plot to force her to give it up – but it's Lieschen who has the last laugh. The Concerto for Violin and Oboe and the Orchestral Suite No. 3 complete the programme.

Soloists: 

Alice Harnoncourt (Violin), Robert Holl (Bass), Janet Perry (Soprano), Jürg Schaeftlein (Oboe), Peter Schreier (Tenor), Leopold Stastny (Flute), Herbert Tachezi (Harpsichord)

Ensemble: 

Concentus Musicus Wien

Conductor: 

Nikolaus Harnoncourt