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FULL Cocoa Cantata (Paterson) Saratoga Springs 2021 Cree Carrico, Steven Stull, David Neal
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Cocoa Cantata
- Composer: Paterson Robert
- Libretto: David Cote Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Universal Preservation Hall, Saratoga Springs, New York
- Recorded: June 18, 2021
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Cree Carrico, Steven Stull, David Neal
- Conductor: Robert Paterson
- Orchestra: AMERICAN MODERN ENSEMBLE
- Stage Director: Jeanne Goddard, David Cote
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
https://robertpaterson.com/cocoa-cantata
ABOUT COCOA CANTATA
Cocoa Cantata is a 21st-century response to J.S. Bach’s Coffee Cantata, one of his secular cantatas, c. 1734. A mini-drama with colorful, comical roles for soprano, baritone, and bass-baritone, this work imitates Bach’s instrumentation and explores politics and optics in the multibillion-dollar chocolate industry.
Two chocolate executives, one from a global brand, the other a boutique chocolatier, square off over a corporate takeover, when a food scientist introduces a scientifically engineered “Total Cacao.” One bite of it, and each “choco boss” is transformed.
Cocoa Cantata runs approximately 24 minutes, incorporating arias for each character, duets, and a final trio. The tone is lightly satirical, with contemporary allusions to fair-trade practices, the chemistry and symbolism of chocolate, and the marketing of pleasure. Cocoa Cantata will be delicious to anyone who loves chocolate—or tries to control their craving for it!
PROGRAM NOTE
Cocoa Cantata is a 21st-century response to J.S. Bach’s Coffee Cantata. Written for soprano, baritone, and bass-baritone, the work explores politics in the multibillion-dollar chocolate industry. Musically, the piece imitates Bach’s instrumentation, but not his Baroque style. The paternalism of Bach’s secular cantata is replaced by a more evolved (yet humorous) attitude toward issues of patriarchy, fair-trade practices, and the marketing of pleasure.