Sunday 1 November 2015

Luca Turin hosts Saturday Classics on BBC Radio 3, presenting a selection of music that conjures up some of his favourite scents

Quick interim post to pass on a tip off I received last night from my friend Jessica - she of the apparently still ongoing rose scent quest! - about a marvellous two hour programme on BBC Radio 3. It was on air yesterday afternoon, but is still available online for 28 days at the time of writing. Luca Turin hosts the entire programme, talking about some of his favourite scents and playing pieces of music which capture the essence / structure / character / 'timbre' of each, including quite a few I had never heard of, or had no clue as to what they were like, such as Diorama. To be truthful, I couldn't quite make out the names of one or two, and he didn't always cite the perfume house concerned, so if anyone was able to compile a complete list of the fragrances covered, I would be most interested to see it!

Oh, and being Radio 3, the music featured is mostly classical, and as well as enjoying Luca Turin's eloquent commentary on the link between each scent and its paired piece of music, I am indebted to him for introducing me to the stirring composition Lento, by Howard Skempton. I was also pleased to see contemporary jazz guitarist Ralph Towner on his playlist, who was part of my musical education during my time with Mr Bonkers, and whom I have even seen in concert once!

I must admit I skipped through some of the classical pieces, as they weren't quite my thing, but I can't recommend the broadcast highly enough for Luca Turin's fascinating descriptions of his chosen perfumes.

Here is the link - catch it while (and if!) you can:

Luca Turin hosts Saturday Classics on Radio 3

Apologies for the fact that I can't seem to embed the link in a directly clickable way - I just did a screenshot of my computer as a rather poor second!

However, I can give you a link to Lento, which is something. Blow me if I can't recall which perfume was associated with it - all the more reason to listen to the programme again, which I was minded to do anyway...;)

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I listened to this last night, thanks to a tip by an NST commenter. I really enjoyed it, including the classical music. I appreciated his concept of scents having timbre and he wasn't as didactic about it as Chandler Burr can be about scents evoking the art style of the era they were introduced in.

I'll be back later with a list -- if you don't think that would be a spoiler.

I can't do it right now as listening to Writers & Company on CBC radio. Eleanor Wachtel is a great interviewer, not least because she has read the entire book she is talking to the writer about, but also because she has reads and asks them about their other books. Also she mentions the writer's name many times during the interview, as well as the book(s)' title(s). Not so necessary in the internet age, but still appreciated.

-- Lindaloo

Anonymous said...

OK, back with a list (two are not perfumes but ingredients):
1. Diorama, 2. Cristalle, 3. Apres l'Ondee, 4. Emeraude, 5. Habanita, 6, more about this later, 7. Nombre Noir, 8. Chamade, 9. Vivre, 10. New York, 11. vetiver root, 12. Chinatown, 13. new molecule to be used to replicate lily of the valley.

About #6: I believe he is saying "Sha - een-ah, spelled Shaina (with two dots over the i). There are two scents by this name in Perfume Intelligence. One is by Jean Couturier (of Coriandre fame) and the other by Atelier Deltail of Paris. It is quite possible he is referring to the second as they also made an unguent form, which is likely to have been thick and resinous as he describes.

You could tweet Tania to find out for sure.

I am lucky to have smelled many of them (wore Cristalle for a long time), but definitely not Shaina (which was bloody hard to search for given that Google and Yahoo think that I wanted Shania Twain's Shania). Perfume Intelligence to the rescue, after I figured out what I was hearing and how it might be spelled.

My work here is done :-)

-- Lindaloo

PS
I was encourages to hear that he thought the current version of a few were relatively good -- time to sample Cristalle again.

Vanessa said...

Hi Lindaloo,

Nice work, thank you! The vetiver one I wondered if it might have been Guerlain Vetiver, except that I wasn't listening properly, when it was in fact the material. That makes sense. And yes, the LOTV molecule, that was the other one. It is coming back to me now.

A Facebook friend sent me this link on Chaina as a possible contender...but your thick and resinous argument is also rather compelling.

http://www.parfumo.net/Perfumes/RPI_Royaume_du_Parfum_International/Chaina

I think we can confidently assume that it wasn't anything from Shania Twain, at least. I had the same experience when I googled Shaina, haha.

And yes, I had the very same thought about LT and Cristalle, though I would have liked to have known if he meant the EDT or the EDP, as they are noticeably different scents.

That interviewer you mention sounds amazingly thorough!

Tara said...

Now you mention he talks about perfumes in relation to the music I may check this out. I am a classical numpty though it could be an education.

It must have been fun to recognise that jazz guitarist and to make a new musical discovery.

Carol said...

I am definitely going to listen to this - thanks for posting, V! xo

Unknown said...

This will come in handy for the folding clothes mountain of doom that is awaiting me this afternoon. Will report back.

Vanessa said...

Hi Tara,

I am sure there are some classical pieces in there for everyone's taste. The Rondeau he kicks off with or the Debussy, for example, also this Howard Skempton that particularly caught my ear. The Samuel Barber was another highlight too, thinking about it. I had only dimly heard of him.

Vanessa said...

Oh, Carol, enjoy! x

Vanessa said...

Sounds like an excellent plan. ;) I might scrub down the pet carrying basket to it later on today...

Unknown said...

So after listening to it I realsied that music and perfume are both incredibly personal affairs. Well, I knew that before, of course, but this program made it clear again. It's a no brainer to pair Debussy with Apres l'Ondee, but the others didn't sit right with me. Especially his pairing of LOTV with the autumnal Brahms piece at the end. But it was interesting to hear his reasons for chosing.

Anonymous said...

I don't know about which Cristalle. I only ever wore the EDT released in 1974. The EDP was released in 1993. Even that could have been diminished by now with IFRA.

Re the Chaina, I didn't think to search parfumo.net. I think your friend might be right as this was marketed for men. (Not that that would concern Turin).

If you ever get bored of BBC books program, pop on line for CBC -- perhaps, as Sabine suggests, while dealing with a mountain of ironing/folding. ;-). Not only is Eleanor Wachtel prepared, her interviews are a real pleasure and she has often been told by writers that it was their best interview ever. (Proud Canadian here)

About the Samuel Barber: his Adagio for Strings is his best known work. It's often played on public occasions of mourning.
I first became aware of it in 2001 after 9/11 when a very affecting picture of an orchestra violinist playing it with tears running down her face. Apparently the BBC played it a lot after Princess Diana's death was announced, and an ensemble of 150 violinists played it in Trafalgar Square after the attack on Charlie Hebdo. (all credit to Wikipedia).
More than enough for now.

-- Lindaloo

Vanessa said...

The EDT was always my favourite and I think LT's preference, trying to remember back to The Guide.

Maybe someone will come out with the definitive answer to the Chaina riddle on the Net soon - will keep my ear to the ground.

Eleanor Wachtel sounds very professional indeed - and while I like to think of myself as a well prepared interview, reading all those books takes things to a whole other level.

I shall investigate Samuel Barber more following this, thank you. I will have heard that Adagio around the time of Diana's death for sure. Thanks for all your info and insights!

Vanessa said...

Interesting that you didn't agree with LT's pairings - the logic was more over my head than anything in places, but the LOTV with the Brahms doesn't seem right now you mention the seasons being at odds!

Blacknall Allen said...

Hm this is synesthesia on a symphonic scale I guess. Um, OK, having gotten that out of my system, I have to agree that some of the combinations do feel random. However charming idea...

Anonymous said...

Hi Vanessa,
thank you for sharing! Now, there is an update available on the bbc site called "Luca Turin's Fragrance and Music Matches. Lindaloo is right Nr. 6 is Shaina (with two dots on the "i") from Atelier Delteil and the Vetiver refers to the 1961 Jean-Paul Guerlain one. Ah, and the molecule is Luca Turin's own creation called Tanismal.
Have a nice weekend and greetings from Berlin
Anka

Vanessa said...

Hi Blacknall,

Haha, that's a good assessment of it. I must say I really enjoyed the programme, occasional oddities of association notwithstanding.

Vanessa said...

Hi Anka,

Why, thank you for pointing us in the direction of this update and for clarifying those mysteries in terms of LT's scent matches! I was right about the vetiver then. Excellent, and have a nice weekend yourself. It is really cold here now!

Pip said...

I'm so pleased to have caught this just hours before it expires on iplayer. Thanks to everyone here for the comments that had shed light on what I'm hearing.

I loved Lento, too. I wish I'd had a chance to have the scents and do 'scratch n sniff' radio.

Vanessa said...

Hi Pip,

Thanks for dropping by! I am glad you caught the broadcast in time and found the other listeners' comments helpful.

'Scratch n sniff' radio sounds like a great idea, hehe.