Ralf Schwieger – the Retrospective (1999-2021) and the Talk

For me, the heart of Pitti Fragranze events is Chandler Burr’s Retrospective and Conversation with a perfumer whose art of creation has changed the face of today’s perfumery. For this year’s Pitti Fragranze, its art director chose Master Perfumer Ralph Schwieger.

Chandler Burr introduced Ralph Schweiger as a perfumer who, in the context of a perfumer’s age, got into perfumery relatively late. Still, despite that, in his 22-year career, he created many perfumes that are now considered works of art. Mr Schweiger’s opening speech was short, and I am conveying it in its entirety:

“I am especially thankful that you (Pitti Fragranze) put the artistic side of perfumery back onto the front line because in the last twenty-thirty years this has been lost, and I am happy that I could at least try to bring the art in perfumery forward.

You are right, Chandler. I started late. I studied chemistry, and I was already 30 years old when I started, so my body of work was not so big compared to Jean Claude Ellena, who had the honour of being presented here two years ago.

I’m thinking about Edmond Roudnitska, perhaps the idol of 20th-century perfumery, my idol and the perfumer I most admire. He started in perfumery early on, but he retired when he was 61, so I hope I still have some time to create some masterpieces.

Thank you very much for being here.”

Retrospective

BABY DOLL (1999.)

– sukreacija s Cecile Matton for Yves Saint Laurent

LIPSTICK ROSE (2000.)

– commissioned by Frederic Malle for Editions de Parfum Frederic Malle

EAU DES MERVEILLES (2004.)

– commissioned by Nathalie Fiesthauer, naruičitelj Veronique Gautier for Hermes

ORANGE SANGUINE (2010.)

– commissioned by Sylvie Gantier and Christophe Cervasel for Atelier Cologne

VANILLE INSENSEE (2011.)

– commissioned by Sylvie Gantier and Christophe Cervasel for Atelier Cologne

FILS DE DIEU (2012.)

– commissioned by Etiene de Swardt for Etat Libre d’Orange

IRIS NAZARENA (2013.)

– commissioned by Karl Bradl I and Robert Gerstner for Aedes de Venustas

MOAB (2016.)

– commissioned by Erik Kormann and Anne Serrano – McClain

MUSC ENCENSE (2018.)

– commissioned by Karl Bradl and Robert Gerstner for Aedes de Venustas

QUINO (2018.)

– naručitelj Christian Bohdan for Helio

LE DIEU CERF (2021.)

– commissioned by Etiene de Swardt for La Seconde Affaire du Pommier

The Talk

The Talk allowed me to closely follow the interaction of two very different personalities – the extraordinary perfumer and the extraordinary perfume critic – both of whom I have previously known only from the works they created.
So, for me as a novice on the Pitti Fragranze, the whole Retrospective + Talk format wasn’t just Ralf Schwieger’s thing, and my interest was, even before the Talk started, doubled:

One of my perfume bookshelves is occupied by the pillar books of Chandler Burr’s documentarist opus. With a considerable dose of concentration and patience, I have read The Emperor of Scent (2003) and The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris & New York (2008). I also enjoyed reading Mr Burr’s perfume reviews for the New York Times. As much as I could, I followed his interpretations and theoretical contributions to modern perfumery’s paradigms and discourse, which also reflected on the text featured above the exhibited perfumes.

During the talk between the very expressive, American-style moderator and the Master Perfumer, I was almost immediately captured by Mr Schwieger’s refined and heart-melting virtue of patient listening and thinking about what is being said. The next day, on the sidelines of the event, I unexpectedly had the opportunity to experience this Ralph Schwieger characteristic in an unplanned, one-to-one conversation.

Moving from one exhibited perfume to another, Mr Burr allowed the Master Perfumer to present the perfume material which is significantly important in each of his exhibited creations. While listening to Ralf Schwieger and smelling both perfume and material simultaneously, I got the right amount of guidance in thinking, rethinking, and learning.

The conversation conveyed a simple perfumer’s explanation of the purpose of tonquitone in Lipstick Rose (the material’s urinary smell really surprised me!). Then, he pointed to the significant function of dissonant contrast beneath the surface of a supremely smooth, very feminine composition.

Speaking about the balance of evernyl and vanillin in Vanille Insensee, Mr Schwieger in a direct and unmasking way mentioned the simplicity of its composition. Further, as opposed to orris absolute, he used in Iris Nazarena, he named the materials which work as cheap iris substitutes. I certainly did not expect him to go that way, but I was glad he did that, too.

The story of the creation of the original chord, which today represents the olfactive identity of the entire Merveilles collection, was also accompanied by his vividly expressed opinion about the flankers in general. Soon after, he remarked that he was the last perfumer Hermes collaborated with before switching to the concept of in-house perfumers.

While smelling Isobutyl Quinoline (a bitter/green/herbal fragrance material used in creating leather accords), I heard the Master Perfumer’s thoughts on its scented profile (remember the classic chypres?). I am particularly glad because I had a chance to smell Quino Hello, a man-made material that smells like a rich and complex chord on its own.

Overall, in a relatively short time, I gained a preciously clear insight into Mr Schweiger’s profound refinement in communication, combined with an unexpectedly high dose of openness and criticism towards contemporary perfumery.

Yes, the experience of listening and learning from a perfumer who created perfumes without which I can’t imagine how empty and limited my fragrant communication with the world would be as extraordinary and surprising from the first to the last second.

Having all that in mind, I’m so looking forward to reading The Plum Girl’s already announced text, soon to be published: Ralf Schwieger In Interview: The Sculptor Of Scents / Pitti Fragranze 2021 is about to bring an even closer portrait of a man who marked the art of modern perfumery.