Mozart may have written an entire “Champagne Aria” for his Don Giovanni, but Bach knew that coffee was the people’s beverage. His Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht BWV 211, commonly known as the “Coffee Cantata,” is a comic paean to the bewitching brew and its famously addictive properties.
A performance of that highly caffeinated work will jump-start the 2026–27 Howey Music Series, adding a drop of rocket fuel to its ongoing mission to keep the lively arts thriving in Lake County. The performance is slated for Sunday, October 4, at the Sydonie Mansion, where doors will open at 1:30 p.m. and music will begin at 2 p.m.
For this outing, the series will host the First Coast Opera—a 25-year-old company headquartered in St. Augustine—to interpret the story of young Lisa (Liesgen in the original German), a girl with a serious jones for the dark brew.
Soprano Cristina Bakhoum Sanchez will perform the role of Lisa, with baritone Sean Stork as her disapproving father, Herr Schlendrian (“Mr. Routine” in English). Juan Tello will sing the role of the Narrator. Conductor Curtis Tucker, the company’s artistic director, will lead the instrumental ensemble.
The Sydonie Mansion—a sprawling estate built in 1883 on the north side of Lake Monroe in Mount Dora—will be turned into a makeshift 18th-century German coffeehouse for the occasion, with complimentary java and cookies served to attendees.
The program will begin with a solo recital by acclaimed violinist Ilana Zaks—a member of the violin faculty at Rollins College—who’ll play selections from Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. (“Partitas” is a baroque-era term for a suite of dance pieces for a solo instrument.) These pieces are renowned for testing the technical capabilities of the instrument (and those who play it).
Following intermission, First Coast Opera will present the “Coffee Cantata,” a witty satire of coffee addiction—especially among young women, for whom it was viewed as a vice—and generational clashes that pit stodgy societal rules against a changing youth culture.
The Sydonie Mansion is located at 5538 Sydonie Avenue, Mount Dora. For more information, call or visit the website.
