Candela, a kiss of true love beyond good and evil
The story of the ballet notes of El Amor Brujo translated into the notes of smell. With a distinctively Andalusian character, the players relate a story of passion without limits. Just a redeeming kiss of true love will break the spell.
Esprit de Candela means passionate love, the fight of lovers to be together. Two different souls, Candela and Carmelo, are embodied in a sweet redeeming kiss kept in a precious perfume bottle. The Andalusian flamenco has an Arabic flavor achieved by amber heart, damask rose and leather. Complex, since it takes time to understand a creation like this, but gentle on the skin thanks to the balance between the top citrus notes and the powerful woods and spices of the heart and base.
This oriental wood fragrance is the translation of the ballet and orchestra El Amor Brujo (literally Love, the Magician also known as The Bewitched Love) into the music of smells. The work of Manuel Falla has a distinctive Andalusian character. The music contains moments of remarkable beauty and originality, and the players relate a story of passion and love without limits.
Candela, a beautiful and jovial young woman, still passionately loves her deceased husband even though she had an unhappy life with him. He was cruel, jealous and dissolute, but fascinating and flattering. Every night she feels his presence, the “Spectre”, and even if he scares her, she dances with him to the rhythms of the flamenco, a popular dance. Spring comes and brings love with it, Carmelo. He is a strong young man who fell in love with Candela and seduces her. When they try to sign their mutual love with a kiss, the jealous Spectre comes back to separate them. Candela becomes fragile and sick because she cannot live her love story with Carmelo, so he comes up with an idea to end this nightmare. He met Candela’s husband some time ago and remembers his weakness: beautiful women. The young man persuades Lucia, a extremely attractive girl, to help them to distract the ghost while the couple share the redeeming kiss that will break the spell. They all meet at night at the time and place where the Spectre appears to dance with Candela. She is feeble but her passion for Carmelo gives her the strength to move. Lucia comes into scene and the Spectre can’t avoid the attraction. The two lovers use this moment to make their desire come true and break the spell.
Particularly Spanish is the way in which the brute strength of the incorrigible nature [Spectre] is crushed by the mind’s tenancy and the human soul [Candela & Carmelo].”
– Burnett James, Falla’s biographer.
