PARIS COMMUNE – The Civilians (The Michael Friedman Collection) – (Ghostlight Records – online)
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The second instalment of the Michael Friedman Collection includes this absolutely wonderful piece called Paris Commune. Unlike the other musicals in the collection, the songs were not written by Friedman but rather uses songs from the time-period to bring to life the explosive events of 1871 in Paris when working-class citizens overthrew the French government and declared Paris autonomous. This powerhouse of a show was devised by Friedman (who translated and adapted the songs) along with colleague Steve Cosson (who wrote the book along with Friedman) and is certainly one for the catalogue!
Paris Commune tells the story of the first European socialist revolution, an attempt to completely re-order society – government, co-operative ownership of business, education, the rights of women, even the hours of the baker. A meta-theatrical, musical play, Paris Commune draws on historical texts and original songs from the time to bring to life this explosive moment in French history. The actors both inhabit the roles of multiple characters and also step outside of the action as storytellers and as commentators, most notably to interrogate one of the central conflicts of this particular revolution.
The album features Kate Buddeke, Aysan Celik, Charlotte Dobbs, Rebecca Hart, Nina Hellman, Daniel Jenkins, Brian Sgambati, and Sam Breslin Wright, with an ensemble including Randy Blair, Ally Bonino, Sarah Beth Pfeifer, and Jonathan Raviv.
And what an album it is! I kid you not: I have played this about 5 times in the last four hours and it has actually held me back from reviewing another three albums waiting in the queue! I cannot get enough of it. It is truly moving, atmospheric and, like a good wine, gets better with every taste!
I shouldn’t really pick out any particular artist from the cast, as they are all superb, but Kate Buddeke was born for the part she plays. Her voice is a mixture of Marianne Faithful and Lotte Lenya and is just so right for this genre of music.
I can’t say enough good things about this album so I will simply say – you HAVE to go to ghostlightrecords.com and get this for yourself!
Nick Wakeham
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