photo courtesy Xerjoff
Listen to the echoing whistle and slow build of strings and percussion before the curtain rises on West Side Story. The sweeping lyricism of Maurice Jarre’s stirring opening to Lawrence of Arabia or the galloping fanfare that begins Bizet’s Carmen. These great overtures act as prologues, instilling the story’s major themes before anything ever happens. In perfumery, the overture might typically be thought of as the top notes, which set the stage for the unfolding of a fragrance’s olfactory trajectory and introduce fragrance harmonies that will reappear to underscore key moments. In Xerjoff’s Ouverture, indeed, the opening notes loop in and out of the central aromas of orange, cinnamon and sandalwood like a recurring olfactory theme as the mise-en-scene unfolds.
Image via Jooin
Part of the brand’s V series (formerly Sospiro), which celebrates velvet, Ouverture recalls the fabric’s sumptuousness, summoning a theatre of a certain era – heavy fringed curtains, plush seats, quietly shimmering evening gowns – with a rich, thick haze of warm spice, lush flowers, sandalwood and incense. Ouverture is a markedly warm fragrance. The bold opening brings a dizzying rush of juicy orange, russet cinnamon and fig leaf. The orange takes the reins, its sweetness initially splashy but simmering down to a more candied mellowness within a few minutes. The orange-cinnamon combination gives Ouverture an immediate ruddy quality – like red hots dissolving in simmering orange syrup. Fig leaf adds a wallop of young, green fruit, which balances out the sweetness, and the whole lot bubbles away happily for a time.
Marianela Nuñez & Gabriele Corrado in MacMillian’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Foto/Teatro alla Scala
In the next movement, the tempo slows and the temperature cools as flowers twirl around the fruit and spice like gauzy ballerina tulle. Shameless banana fruit ylang jetes in, grins, and plants a big smooch on the fruit and spice. Rather more quietly, lipstick and satin from the rose begin melding with the cinnamon (a synergy also found in Delrae’s exquisite Bois de Paradis by Michel Roudnitska). A big dollop of vanilla and amber stir in, adding some creamy thickness to the perfume’s texture, and I can smell some night-blooming-style jasmine. Xerjoff Ouverture smells like a distant relative of Shalimar at this juncture although less overtly vanillic-balsamic. But its kinship with those 20s opulent, amber-centric perfumes is apparent. But before Ouverture has you thinking it is also retro glam, a bitter cedary-marine note weaves in that has me thinking there might be a touch of ambroxan here. Its effect is to undercut the richness of the composition, make it feel more modern and even a bit masculine. Sandalwood is the star, though, as woods take over in the third movement, joined by some joss stick incense.
Maria Callas takes a curtain call in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, at La Scala in Milan, Italy, in 1958./ Image: Willy Rizzo/Paris Match/Hachette Filipacchi Associés
The dry-down, when it eventually comes, brings everyone together for the finale. First out for applause are jasmine, amber, and that cedar-amboxan note. Next are supporting players rose, ylang, vanilla and incense. Xerjoff Ouverture ends with its star notes stepping out from behind the velvet curtains to take their bows, the shouts of “brava” and whistles resounding for cinnamon, orange and sandalwood. If you want something extravagant but cozy and wearable, Xerjoff Ouverture is like attending a night at the opera in your favourite jammies.
Notes: Orange, fig leaf, magnolia, Indian jasmine, Bulgarian rose, cinnamon, ylang-ylang, sandalwood, vanilla, amber, cashmere wood, incense.
Disclaimer: bottle of Xerjoff Ouverture kindly sent to me by Eden Square, U.S. distributors for Xerjoff. My opinions are my own.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
Xerjoff Ouverture and stock photo apped by Michelyn
Thanks to the generosity of Eden Square/Euro Perfumes, we have a 100 ml tester bottle of Xerjoff Ouverture for one registered reader in the U.S. only. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about Xerjoff Ouverture based on Lauryn’s review and what your favourite Xerjoff fragrance is. What does velvet smell like to you? Draw closes 3/22/2021.
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