Cafe Polisson

Recorded at Orsay Museum's Auditorium during the exhibition "Splendour and destitution, images of prostitution 1850-1910", the album Cafe Polisson reminds us in song of sketches by the likes of Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas or Steinlein, and it provides a glimpse of the illegal underworld of the cafe concerts during the Belle époque. Actress-singer Nathalie Joly is the greatest exponent of the genre 'parle chante,' and universally recognized by critics for her immense performances of works by Yvette Guilbert (collected in the trilogy "Yvette ! Yvette ! Yvette !" (FA5679, the complete songs of Yvette Guilbert by Nathalie Joly.) This recording is a wonderful recital by a master performer, featuring material by the great writers (Bruant, Guilbert, Xanrof etc.) mingled with bawdy popular songs. These works are by turns humorous or cruel, realistic or poetic, but always coarse and daring. They echo the misery, resentment, and indeed pride, shown by these so-called "loose" women.