PURE

Les Innocents Cemetery has held the corpses of Paris since the fourteenth century. It’s now 1785, four years before the Revolution, and overflowing tombs and foul air have made the whole neighborhood uninhabitable. Young Jean-Baptiste Baratte, an up-and-coming engineer, has been commissioned to excavate the graves, transfer the bones (with appropriate solemnity and care) to the Catacombs and then destroy the cemetery and its attached church. Miller’s story focuses on atmosphere, and Ralph Cosham’s measured proficiency accentuates its pace and mood. His authoritative enunciation complements the gravity of Baratte’s task. The listener feels the weight of the task and its ramifications as all must choose the between the reeking past and the fresh air of the future. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2012]