Krasnaya Moskva

Красная Москва

Nóvaya Zaryá Eau de Cologne

"Krasnaya Moskva" is a tribute to the quintessential Russian... The hope for better times, the patient calm of the people's soul, and the proverbial "Russian cold," against which one prepares with a warm coat and fur hat.
The warm fragrance contains spices and flowers that represent a good-natured soul. There is also something rebellious that wants to assert itself. Not with violence, but with "!brains and patience," and with endurance.
Iris provides profound transparency with long-lasting powdery accents.
Rose symbolizes the longing for free expression, woods represent the vastness of the land. To my nose, it is an entirely "Russian" scent, not only because it is produced there, but because it does without ostentation and pomp while still touching deeply. In places of the soul that one usually pays little attention to.
A composition of the most profound kind. I am grateful to be able to wear it from time to time.

The name "Krasnaja Moskwa" (in un-Anglicized spelling) immediately evokes thoughts of "Krasnaja Ploschtschad," the "Red Square," located in the heart of Moscow, at the foot of the Kremlin. By its etymology, it should mean "Beautiful Square" in German, as the word "krasnaja" originally had both meanings: "red" and "beautiful" - as Taurus1967 already pointed out in his fine comment. And the term has nothing to do with the Soviets at all. When I was there in 1990/91, the memory of Mathias Rust was still present, who had landed nearby with his Cessna in 1987; and given the grand name, expectations were high anyway.

The square initially astonishes with its sheer size. We, a group of 24 more or less youthful choir singers, had just been dropped off by the bus not far away and stood around somewhat lost; opposite us was the long, forbidding Kremlin wall (the Lenin Mausoleum gets a bit overshadowed by it) and our gaze was inevitably drawn to the State Historical Museum on the northwest side, particularly of course to the pompous St. Basil's Cathedral in the southeast. Even on a dreary, gray winter day, it is an uplifting sight. Due to its colorful design, it is by no means as overwhelming as sacred buildings elsewhere often try to be. Its apparent asymmetry is misleading, as it is usually photographed at an angle.

I can hardly imagine that the name "Krasnaja Moskwa" was chosen by chance. It is much more likely to suspect an association with this central Russian historical and cultural heritage. Thus, "Krasnaja Moskwa" may just as well mean "Beautiful Moscow." Various associations have been made with the (apparently more prominent) sibling fragrance, such as nobility and haute bourgeoisie. I see it differently. "Beautiful Moscow" seems more melancholic to me; to put it pathetically: The fragrance allows itself to be seen as an allegory of the sighing, tormented Russian soul, of "Mother Russia," the afflicted one.

A powerful opening, followed by a long development, made me check with Angelliese, the provider of my sample (thank you very much!), whether this was really the EdC. My dear ladies - or rather: gentlemen - how must the stronger concentrations come across? Because Krasnaja Moskwa is extraordinarily strong and present even as an EdC, and bitterness permeates almost the entire development.

The slap in the face at the beginning - like the icy Moscow winter wind when leaving the plane - fades within a quarter of an hour. I now perceive coriander, warm, just as the cold-needled skin begins to feel heated in the enclosed space. The hesperidic notes play only a minor role at the beginning, just a hint of fruit shines through, and a trace of the bergamot-typical fuzziness hovers near the edge of mere imagination. Over the course of the first hour, an opulent-elegant neroli note finally emerges, preserved from any cloying by iris bitterness.

After two hours, we reach the core of the fragrance in the third layer: a herbaceous-voluminous iris as the queen of a tightly woven floral bouquet. What an appearance! Certainly not for everyday wear. And equally conceivable for ladies - those with presence, of course. The fragrance remains at this level for a good six hours.

Increasingly, alongside the iris concentrate, other stinky relatives are likely. "Peeking" in the ladies' fragrance brings the thought of clove into play. Perhaps. I suspect daffodil or something like that, possibly with a hint of moss. And when, at the end, from the seventh or eighth hour, a softly creamy note of floral bitterness gradually breaks through the peak, it still does not become conciliatory-flattering, but the structure, the heart of the fragrance remains intact. Vanilla and tonka are likely responsible for the softening, although I personally cannot discern them. Very well done.

The "classic" Russian can sink into his melancholy (and vodka), but a part of him, it seems to me, always remains an observer of himself, always passive, as if all of this only concerned him tangentially. Worse: Like all who have been tormented long enough, he is even willing to cheer on his tormentors - and his torment! - Who has ever heard the tumult followed by the lament of the fool at the end of Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" (in the 1872 version; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPaapnDNqqU) knows what I mean. No one was able to express this more aptly in tones than Mussorgsky in his "Boris" and in "Khovanshchina." Please forgive me my perhaps antiquated view of things; my experiences in Russia are, after all, a quarter of a century old. Nevertheless: What there is to experience now is heartbreaking. It was, in retrospect, a brief window of hope during glasnost and perestroika back then.

One of my favorite pastimes while traveling is browsing through foreign grocery stores or supermarkets. I marvel at the local culinary or quirky specialties in the form of foods, vegetables, fruits, beverages, sweets, etc., as well as non-food items.
For example, in the USA, I noticed the dark-colored white bread sold as black bread, or the extremely delicious ginger lemonade in Australia, or the chocolate-flavored toothpaste in Turkey (no - I didn't try it) and so on and so forth.
This curiosity probably began when I traveled to Moscow for a few days in the late 70s with my mother and grandmother. The stores there, however, were sparsely stocked compared to the West German standard. The canned goods in the windows were sadly stacked haphazardly - that was the entire variety.

Otherwise, the city, which is now one of the most expensive in the world, is incredibly interesting, such as the GUM department store, the Rossiya Hotel (unfortunately already demolished), the Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathedral, the Moscow Metro, and especially Red Square, around which many sights and sensations are lined up. Interestingly, "Krasnaya" in Russian originally means both red and beautiful. Thus, one could translate Red Square as Beautiful Square as well. The same goes for this fragrance, which is called both Red Moscow and Beautiful Moscow.

However, I discovered Krasnaya Moskva not back then, but just recently in a large Russian supermarket in Düsseldorf. There, alongside various frozen pelmeni and blini, as well as different types of pickled vegetables in jars or the national refreshment drink kvass in various containers, there is also a non-food section with books, CDs, DVDs, pictures, jewelry, bags, linens, and other items from Russian lands. Among them are soaps, shampoos, and some fragrances with bottles that cross the embarrassment threshold, such as those in the shape of a football or wristwatch. But among them were several fragrances from Novaya Zaryá, the perfume brand that Molotov's wife Polina Schemtschuschina helped establish under Stalin. The female counterpart to "Krasnaya Moskva" was essentially the Soviet equivalent of Chanel No. 5.

However, the men's version is far from that. Nevertheless, when I first tested it, I thought I had accidentally picked up the women's fragrance, as I was greeted by a huge bouquet full of jasmine and roses. For an Eau de Cologne, "Krasnaya Moskva" is surprisingly voluminous, and only after some time, when many other Eau de Parfums have already collapsed, does the fragrance turn more masculine and exude an aura of floral-soapy spiciness. One could also argue that rose and the soapy coriander set the foundation here, with all other components moving more or less softly around it. Later on, the "beautiful Moscovite" becomes powdery thanks to the obligatory vanilla and the slightly darker tonka bean, but clean and thus surprisingly masculine enough.

Overall, the fragrance has exemplary longevity and feels very classic with a skillful barbershop attitude, making it almost older than old school.
But for me, it embodies exactly that flair of Moscow from back then, with all its socialist facets between old tsarist pomp, Stalinist architecture, and a morbid everyday life. Accordingly, I took the 85 ml bottle with me, because for 230 rubles, equivalent to 4.50 €, I couldn't leave it behind. No, "Krasnaya Moskva" may be cheap for some, but for me, it is simply an affordable piece of nostalgia!

For me, it is very difficult to describe this scent objectively, as it is associated with too many childhood memories and Soviet times; the fragrance is just as colorful and intense as the memories themselves. In any case, one can say right away that with fragrances of this kind, the motto "less is more" definitely applies.
The opening is very reminiscent of the new "Maderas de oriente" by Nelia (a former Myrurgia fragrance), just a bit less woody, but after a short time, many floral, powdery, slightly sweet accords emerge, and clove notes can also be detected, even though they are not included in the fragrance pyramid. The longevity of the EDC is also quite generous, easily lasting at least 6 hours. Overall, it remains floral-woody-sweet-powdery for an extended period, and the dry down is rather powdery-floral.
Overall, the scent has remained exactly as I remember it from the past; I can't detect any changes that time might bring (regarding the formulation).
It is a very beautiful, lush piece (even as a Cologne), but of course, one must like fragrances of this kind.

P.S.: After a testing phase, this scent increasingly feels like a huge orgy to me; it is so lush and intense that I was completely unaware until then that I even had sensations of this kind :) So one really has to hold back to avoid starting to scream :)