Notre-Dame 15.4.2019 Filippo Sorcinelli 2020

I believe what I see. This is not a tragedy, for there was no impending conflict, no delaying moment, only sudden peripeteia, the television of a trauma. Reality and actuality drift apart like the waking state from the world of dreams. I see a surreal symbol fading, experience the obliteration of an abstract associative space. Something begins to dig like a ghost in thoughts, uprooting memories, reordering neurons: It has always been this way, when I was still a child, in illustrated books with pictures of cathedrals, in novels, thus the realities of others, in the bookstore across the Seine, in black-and-white films. This belongs to the intact world. Now I see people standing with their backs to the bookstore, staring, silent, in a desperate attempt to slow the flames, to brake the images, to reverse the film. One wishes to undo it.
Now, a year later, the images are back. Alienated and blurred. Memory creates its own paintings. What could be expected from someone who creates an abstract associative space in memory of this trauma, intended to help finance the reconstruction? Especially if it is someone like Sorcinelli, whose fragrances are almost always marked by smoke. Firestorm, smoldering fire, black smoke, and ash?
For seconds, there are truly images of burning tar, viscous like black, greasy lava pouring over wood and stones, flying sparks extinguishing into ash, within which, however, green spices, especially basil, begin to uproot memories again with all kinds of bright hesperidic notes, counteracting the coal block on the bottle and simultaneously reflecting the desire to create something new as quickly as possible. For a few minutes, a greenish cologne almost wafts through the burning cathedral, as if to counteract the heat.
Then the flowers begin to bloom, lily of the valley meanders in a mash of amber and earthy resins, defining the image for about half an hour, before a mixture of sandalwood and vetiver combined with incense shifts the impression back into the smoky realm, sometimes depicting charred wood, with vetiver, similar to the basil from the top note, setting a few brighter accents, while incense and sandalwood unfortunately let the scent fade into a balsamic finish after about four to five hours.
***
In my opinion, Sorcinelli has chosen a comprehensible approach. He has created a wearable fragrance for many people that addresses the theme of destruction as well as the vision of the emergence of something new, offering the possibility to generate means to support restoration without having to stray too far from his style. It would have been a remarkable achievement if he had managed this balancing act so well that he could reach both his loyal followers and the neutral audience fully. For the latter, this fragrance is certainly bold, while for some of his loyal fans, it may even be a disappointment.
I think if one sets aside the often-cited personal expectations a bit and tries to judge the fragrance neutrally, what remains is a truly good, interesting, partially pleasing scent with clear development, which at first projects about an arm's length, soon becomes moderate to skin-close, and unfortunately only lasts a few hours.

(With thanks to Kylesa)