Everything
In Marcel Proust’s iconic work In Search of Lost Time, a simple act of tasting a madeleine dipped in tea evokes a flood of memories. It’s a testament to how our senses, particularly smell, can trigger powerful emotions and recollections. In much the same way, the world of music has an uncanny ability to transport us to different times, places, and feelings. When combined, scent and sound create a symphony of sensations, and nobody understands this better than conductor Lorenzo Viotti, the face of BVLGARI MAN Rain Essence.
As a child, Viotti was enchanted by the magic of music. It was both a dream and a desire to emulate his father’s musical prowess that propelled him towards his chosen path. “As a child you either dream or want to reproduce what your parents do. I think it was both. Seeing my dad doing magic with music and at the same dreaming being able to bring emotion to countless amount of people,” he explains.
Today, as the Chief Conductor-Designate of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Viotti strives to take his audiences beyond reality with his performances. “I try to understand the truth behind the notes,” he says, echoing BVLGARI’s dedication to capturing nature’s true essence.
The connection between fragrance and music is profound. “Both can give sensations that you cannot grab, making them rare and deeply personal,” Viotti explains. A fragrance, like a piece of music, can send you on a temporal journey, allowing you to relive certain feelings and memories.
BVLGARI MAN Rain Essence encapsulates this sentiment. Upon the first whiff, Viotti recounts feeling “the lightness and freshness of cold wind and water.” Crafted by Master Perfumer Alberto Morillas, this new addition to the BVLGARI MAN collection channels the anticipation and thrill of rain. From the energising aroma of green tea and orange essence that heralds an impending downpour to the powerful mineral amber and guaiac wood notes that linger after, the fragrance tells a tale of rejuvenation.
Like the crescendos and diminuendos in a musical piece, the BVLGARI MAN fragrance collection embodies nature’s myriad moods. The scents, be it Rain Essence or its predecessors like Wood Essence and Glacial Essence, resonate with nature’s power and purity. Just as music evokes raw emotions, these fragrances connect man to his most primal self, forging a sense of harmony and belonging.
Viotti’s collaboration with BVLGARI seems like a destined confluence of art forms. Drawn to BVLGARI’s futuristic vision for the luxury industry, which also reveres its rich heritage, Viotti finds parallels in music. “Both can give sensation that you cannot grab which makes them very rare and very personal,” he tells ICON. “You can travel in time by smelling a fragrance and you can remember a certain feeling by listening to a piece of music.”
This mirrors the ever-evolving, dynamic nature of BVLGARI’s fragrances, always seeking the next note, the next essence.
Just as Proust found memories in madeleines, today’s aficionado might find them in a harmonious blend of music and fragrance, a symphony of nature’s most evocative notes.
Shop BVLGARI MAN Rain Essence here.
