Ramon Monegal Flamenco with a selection of the piano music of Isaac Albeniz. Photo by Gail Gross ©
The tender years of the tweens, the dreams and loves that influence our early adolescence, are often the signposts that point to and eventually map the directions of our lives. Sixty-two years ago, when I first played the original piano version of Asturias, the Leyenda of Isaac Albeniz, I fell forever under the spell of Spanish music and culture. Albeniz’ La Vega and his Iberia Suite, as well as Enrique Granados’ Goyescas, the music of Manuel de Falla, Joaquin Turina and Federico Mompou, among numerous others, brought the songs and dances of Spain, the romance of the Gitano and the fire and excitement of flamenco into my very measured, suburban teenage life. Later this same fascination with Spanish music and dance led me to a brief encounter with the flamenco guitar and to over forty years of introducing generations of piano students to the music I loved so much.
Ramon Monegal via Ramon Monegal ©
The romance of all things Spanish remains as fresh and exciting for me today as it was those many years ago. In 2017, when veteran perfumer and scion of the venerable house Myrurgia, Ramon Monegal, created a fragrance for his own eponymous perfume house – and named it “Flamenco” – I was eager to experience the fireworks and passion promised by the word and the dance!
Details from “Desnudo del Papagayo o la Gitana del Loro” by Ignacio y Zuloaga (1906)
“We dance to seduce ourselves. To fall in love with ourselves. When we dance with another, we manifest the very thing we love about ourselves so that they may see it and love us too.” – Kamand Kojouri
From the brilliant colors and textures of the gorgeous, extravagant presentation to the final fragrant sigh, Ramon Monegal Flamenco seduces and surprises, creating olfactive contradictions that express at once the raw power and the mysterious, sweet magic that pervades the Andalusian character and culture. Opening with an expansive, red, hot blooded take on raspberries, orange blossoms and roses, Ramon Monegal Flamenco transports the wearer within moments, via woody notes of cedar and cypress, to the furious dance, the nail studded shoes pounding rhythms on the dry wooden tablao and to visions of swirling skirts and skin tight pants that define the genre.
“A Flamenco Dancer” by Arthur Kampf (early 20th century)
As the whirling dance approaches the heart, Ramon Monegal Flamenco melts into a fantastic vision of the tales and treasures of the Alhambra. Jasmine, violet ionones and powdery iris root waft and sparkle through salty perspiration, glittering between my imagined play of sun drenched droplets and ancient courtyard fountains. Eight to twelve hours later, a subtle undercurrent of energy, a breathing, flowing memory of the dance, lingers and dissipates, a nectar of amber, saffron and musk.
Notes: Orange blossom, raspberry, rose, jasmine, violet, iris, cedar, cypress, sandalwood, saffron, amber and musk.
Disclaimer: I would like to thank Europerfumes the U.S. Distributor of Ramon Monegal for my cherished bottle of Flamenco. My opinions are my own.
Gail Gross – Senior Editor
Ramon Monegal Flamenco on the piano. Photo by Gail Gross ©
Thanks to the generosity of Europerfumes, the U.S Distributor we have a 100 ml tester of Ramon Monegal Flamenco for one lucky reader in the USA ONLY. The draw is for registered readers, so be sure to register if you have not done so. To be eligible please let us know what you enjoyed about Gail’s review of Ramon Monegal Flamenco and your favorite Ramon Monegal perfume. Draw closes 2/25/2020
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