The ‘Coffee Cantata’ Premieres in Beijing at the Third Taihu Classical Music Season

At a Glance (China Coffee Network): CNR Beijing, October 3 (reporter Wang Jinwen) The immersive music salon of the "Coffee Cantata" at the Third Taihu Classical Music Season ran three shows on October 1–2 at the Bei…

CNR Beijing, October 3 (reporter Wang Jinwen) The immersive music salon of the “Coffee Cantata” at the Third Taihu Classical Music Season ran three shows on October 1–2 at the Beijing Symphony Orchestra concert hall, using three thematic chapters — “Tracing Western Music’s Origin: Leipzig’s Coffee Aroma,” “Modern Shanghai Style: The Old Times of Republican-Era Cafés,” and “Contemporary Chinese Style: The Modern Special Blend of Tea Aroma and Coffee” — to string together musical stories of different eras and regions along the timeline of coffee’s spread.

All three salons were hosted by Ren Yue, with conductor Xia Xiaotang as guest, coffee curators Cheng Zi and Lin Yang participating in different shows, and the Beijing Symphony Orchestra’s “Yuedong” String Quartet — Zhang Ying, Wang Meidan, Zong Chen and Sun Jiani — performing throughout. The four musicians collaborated tacitly with superb skill; with solid professional foundation and a clear, warm vocal layering, they precisely captured the mood and charm of various Chinese and Western styles, perfectly interpreting the emotion and flavor of each work, becoming the most touching core highlight of the whole salon.

As an important innovation under the “Classical Music for Gen Z” theme of the Third Taihu Classical Music Season, the “Coffee Cantata” breaks the formal, sit-upright concert-hall viewing model. While keeping the original red rows of seats, the concert hall added round tables, sofas and tea tables, blurring the boundary between stage and audience. Holding a coffee cup, the audience sits casually, sipping coffee while listening to strings; the whole show has no strict viewing constraints, recreating the free atmosphere of 18th-century European café salons. The Beijing Symphony Orchestra hopes to use coffee culture — a lifestyle cue closely tied to today’s young people — to bring more young people closer to classical music and feel the beauty of strings in relaxed, everyday scenes.

The first show, “Tracing Western Music’s Origin: Leipzig’s Coffee Aroma,” looked back at Europe’s classical era, focusing on Leipzig of Bach and Haydn’s time. The Yuedong Quartet moved from the breaking-dawn calm of Haydn’s “Sunrise” String Quartet, to the gentle lyricism of Beethoven’s “I Love You,” to works spanning classical, romantic, tango and modern arrangements such as “La Vie en Rose,” “Summertime” and “Autumn Leaves,” sketching the musical scene of European café salons. The second show, “Modern Shanghai Style: The Old Times of Republican-Era Cafés,” shifted the perspective to modern Shanghai, freely moving between Shanghai-style culture and Western jazz, from the Republican-era flavor of “Night Jasmine” and “Blooming Flowers and Full Moon” to the jazz rhythms of “Libertango” and “A Date on a Foggy Night.” The third show, “Contemporary Chinese Style: The Modern Special Blend of Tea Aroma and Coffee,” crossed Eastern tea aroma and modern coffee blends with Chinese-style music, from “Beijing Story” and “Midu Mountain Song” to “The Moon Represents My Heart” and “Chinese Folk Song Suite,” letting traditional melodies glow with new stage tension amid coffee and tea. The three shows, from Europe to Shanghai, from classical to Chinese style, using coffee as a thread, strung together a musical vein spanning East and West, ancient and modern; and the Yuedong Quartet’s highly infectious performance struck every melody straight to the heart, adding luster to the immersive experience.

All three salons unfolded as a composite experience blending performance, coffee tasting, cultural interviews and work interpretation. Xia Xiaotang outlined for the audience the century-long history of music and coffee’s entanglement on site — from Beethoven precisely counting 60 coffee beans, to Johann Strauss Jr. writing the melody of “The Blue Danube” on the back of a café menu, to Voltaire drinking a dozen cups of coffee a day — with celebrity anecdotes at his fingertips, while also popularizing the light, flexible art form of the cantata. Lin Yang and Cheng Zi respectively brought hand-brew coffee demonstrations and tasting shares, from coffee-bean origin flavors to sip-tasting methods to the changing taste layers with temperature, speaking with relish; the on-site creative latte even turned 16th-note and 8th-note rhythms into latte art, hiding musical symbols inside the coffee.

The “Coffee Cantata” is an important exploration by the Third Taihu Classical Music Season toward young audiences, and another attempt by the Beijing Symphony Orchestra in art popularization and cross-border innovation. Under the theme of “Classical Music for Gen Z,” this season’s content matrix is rich: beyond immersive salons, there are also large theater performances and flower-sea open-air stages at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Olympic Forest Park and Taihu Stage Art Center, balancing orthodox performances with youth-oriented innovation. In the future, the series of salons will continue to explore more cross-border themes, continuously seeking fresher, more contemporary ways to open up classical music.

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