PRESS
«Do we remember being so upset at the opera? Enigma, by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt and Patrick Burgan, whose Premiere was Sunday afternoon at the Opéra de Montréal, is on target (…) Burgan’s music, of an accessible complexity, increases tenfold the expressive potential of the libretto.»
La Presse – april 2024 (ENIGMA at Opéra de Montréal)
«Enigma is beautiful and dazzling, we come out of this opera with many reflections and a little stunned by the beauty.»
MatTV – april 2024 (ENIGMA at Opéra de Montréal)
«L’Opéra de Montréal has once again struck gold with a captivatingly modern work that will appeal to the broader public. Patrick Burgan’s rich score is an accomplished one: accessible, appealing and well-orchestrated.Enigma, a marvelous treatise on love and its mysterious nature, is a veritable tour de force. Patrick Burgan’s powerful score is evocative and effortlessly conjures various moods.»
ConcertoNet – april 2024 (ENIGMA at Opéra de Montréal)
«In the pit, more than forty musicians led by Daniel Kawka plunge us into the intense music of Burgan, where dissonances and harmonic audacity add color to the vivid emotions conveyed on stage.»
Les Arts-Zé – april 2024 (ENIGMA at Opéra de Montréal)
«Burgan’s music, well rendered by I Musici, is luxuriant, … it also gives way to a few moments a capella of formidable efficiency.»
Théâtralités – april 2024 (ENIGMA at Opéra de Montréal)
«The insertions of extracts from Elgar’s Enigma Variations, more or less reworked, are totally justified, and wanted by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, when the character of Hélène is evoked. They are extremely skillful and well shot (…) Having already directed the creation in Metz, Daniel Kawka mastered admirably a very rich score.»
Le Devoir – april 2024 (ENIGMA at Opéra de Montréal)
«Patrick Burgan having made his music necessary, bringing to the text an extra of lyricism, (…) succeeds in dramatizing a tense situation, whose backgrounds and unspoken, precisely, participate in this beyond the words we call Music»
Opéra Magazine – february 2023 (about the first performance of ENIGMA at Opéra de Metz)
«Patrick Burgan composed a score of all beauty, which does not shrink from the dissonances and the harmonic boldness, nor from the elks and melodic outbursts (…) remarkable for its lyrical breath and its dramatic effectiveness. The exhilarating sumptuousness of the orchestration will undoubtedly have played a large part in the very warm welcome shown by a sparse, but visibly and very sincerely enthusiastic audience»
Resmusica – november 2023 (about the first performance of ENIGMA at Opéra de Metz)
«…an orchestra raised to the rank of real character, full of colors, wood, brass and percussion (…) The French opera lover will applaud a finely constructed «all public» work.»
Diapason – december 2022 (about the album CD-DVD Peter Pan)
«Burgan’s largely rhythmic music is very colorful and effective and can characterize all the fantastic that happens in the story… the orchestra is not an accompaniment for the voices, but plays its own role, expressing what the characters do not say»
Pizzicato – december 2022 (about the album CD-DVD Peter Pan)
«The CD and DVD release of Patrick Burgan’s Peter Pan makes the event, some sixteen years after the first performance of the show at the Théâtre Zingaro in Aubervilliers. The writing is sumptuous, favoring a rhythmic scansion all stravinskienne (we think of The Weddings) Let us specify that the DVD is accompanied by two CDs highlighting the rich score of Patrick Burgan that we can also appreciate without the images.»
Resmusica – june 2023 (about the album CD-DVD Peter Pan)
«We necessarily think of Ravel and L’enfant et les sortilèges in the poetic way that Patrick Burgan took us into a certain imaginary. Above all, he shows his ability to play with narration, musical colors (melodic as well as rhythmic), to ensure that the compositional technique is at the service of the text, its understanding, emotions.»
Froggy’s delight – january 2023 (about the album CD-DVD Peter Pan)
«The boundless imagination that characterizes the musical and theatrical work of Patrick Burgan finds in the myth of Peter Pan a fertile ground full of joyful exuberance. This publication confirms the importance of the role played by Patrick Burgan in the current musical creation»
Classic Toulouse – march 2023 (about the album CD-DVD Peter Pan)
« A beautiful anthology that confirms the importance of Patrick Burgan in the contemporary musical landscape»
Classica – april 2020 (about the CD Sphères/Le lac/Vagues)
«Le lac… a vast symphonic poem whose penetrating nostalgia captivates the attention from the ample initial meditation of a solo cello prefiguring the song, to the dissolution of the sound material. The regularity of the pulsations (the sound of the rowers?) seems to call that of the verses while a subtle alternation of melodic intervals tense, placid or radiant suggests these painful aspirations or serenity that are at the heart of the poem. Without any redundancy, however, the vocal line is so careful not to emphasize the words. The five short pieces of Spheres: virtuoso orchestration, terrifying climax »
Diapason – january 2020 (about the CD Sphères/Le lac/Vagues)
« Sound surges, vibrant frames, furious energy and brutality of the percussive gesture are practiced in Vagues, in a jubilant orchestral universe »
Resmusica – april 2020 (about the CD Sphères/Le lac/Vagues)
« The music of Patrick Burgan possesses a suggestive power, suitable to exercise us to metaphysical questions! To listen to his works is to be confronted with Creation through the channel of listening. A journey into the heart of the vibrations from which we derive only wonder »
ENA Magazine – april 2020 (about the CD Sphères/Le lac/Vagues)
« First performed in 1990, Vagues is a sound painting with a very impressive effect. The composer makes perfect use of the orchestra’s timbral possibilities in this splendid recording with considerable tension »
Pizzicato – october 2019 (about the CD Sphères/Le lac/Vagues)
« Patrick Burgan’s aerial and ductile orchestra »
MusikZen – january 2020 (about the CD Sphères/Le lac/Vagues)
« The composer is one of those who manage to combine modernity of language, without concession or facility, on the one hand, expressive impact and sound jubilation, on the other. Le lac: a real vocal and orchestral success. The five Sphères: bluffing and spectacular »
ConcertoNet – décember 2019 (about the CD Sphères/Le lac/Vagues)
« These three works that breathe the same breath paint an excellent portrait of this rare composer »
Utmisol – April 2020 (about the CD Sphères/Le lac/Vagues)
« Patrick Burgan’s music can also be characterized by an almost mathematical construction, something sensorial, emotional, a dramatic force that naturally leads to “poetic meditations” »
Froggy’s Delight – october 2019 (about the CD Sphères/Le lac/Vagues)
«The poet’s verses are as if analyzed musically and delivered with finesse and intensity by the soprano Valérie Condoluci (about Le Lac). The Orchestre national de France, directed by Pascal Rophé, does full justice to the sound of the work (about Sphères). As colorful as in the previous work, the stages contain some nuggets of an immediate seduction (about Vagues) »
ClassicToulouse.com – october 2019 (about the CD Sphères/Le lac/Vagues)
« A very beautiful anthology »
Musique classique & Co – september 2019 (about the CD Sphères/Le lac/Vagues)
” Burgan’s work wows above all by the beauty of the mixed voices, sometimes lyric, sometimes elegiac, which sing love and death on a timeless mode (…) The return to a true poetry and spirituality seems to be one of the most stimulating ways of the contemporary creation “
Sarah Léon (Choc de Classica – july 2018 – about the CD “Les Spirituelles/Cantique des cantiques”)
” Rather than boldness and abyss, Patrick Burgan prefers a bright expressiveness which seduces by its fine taste. That of one of the most interesting french polyphonists of his time”
Benoît Fauchet (Diapason – july 2018 – about the CD Les Spirituelles/Cantique des cantiques)
« With its medieval forms and the whim of its outlines, “How beautiful you are” is one of the most delicious pages of the cycle, letting appreciate the delicacy and the sensualism of the voices »
Michèle Tosi (Resmusica – july 2018 – about the CD Les Spirituelles/Cantique des cantiques)
« Height of expressivity a suprisingly lively musical arrangement. The power of the harmonised voices brings a colourful vivacity to the score which celebrates life rather than death »
Thierry Hillériteau (Le Figaro – 18th january 2017 – about Requiem)
« An impressive work which should appeal to a wider audience – a far cry from the discordant clashes of the contemporary music scene »
Jacques Bonnaure (Classica – December 2016 – about Requiem)
« The surprising tones in the Dies Irae and the extraordinary use of instruments to create unexpected timbres, make this Requiem a truly original musical arrangement which captivates the audience for one hour »
Pizzicato – 7th december 2016 (about Requiem)
« Harmonic friction, a theatrical style and a element of madness – as in his recent symphonic poem for trombone and orchestra The Fall of Lucifer : Burgan, resolute, stands out, through the acute rawness in his narrative »
MusikZen – 4th january 2017 (about Requiem)
« The powerful effect of the Latin text in the Requiem, used here in extenso, unleashes an imaginary, exuberant lyricism where text and sound intertwine »
Resmusica – 20th december 2016 (about Requiem)
« The tubular bells resound and, in a micro -polyphonic plenitude, the final roar is totally enthralling »
Resmusica – 26th february 2016 (about 1213-Bataille de Muret)
« Through the balance of finesse and subtility in his narrative, Patrick Burgan delivers a score which is irresistable in its mood sequences – inebriated, hypnotic, suspended, hallucinatory (the trombone solo in the second movement – Revolt). The musical score is a masterpiece and will go down as a major work in musical composition for the trombone »
Classiquenews – 21th october 2014 (about La chute de Lucifer in CD «French trombone concertos»)
« The standing ovation which greeted this first world performance is heart-warming. It shows that today’s music can appeal to all audiences »
ClassicToulouse.com – 14th september 2013 (about 1213-Bataille de Muret)
« Ten minutes of continuous applause greeted this magnificent first performance which should take the evocation of the battle of Muret well beyond the town of Muret »
La Dépêche du Midi – 19th september 2013 (about 1213-Bataille de Muret)
« Bernard Haas gave the first performance of Patrick Burgan’s D.G. in memoriam commissioned by TLO – a vast six part Fantaisie in the name of Xavier Darasse, an evocation of Darasse’s unfinished opera based on Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray. A powerful, poetically structured work – at times mysterious, at times frenetic with a dishevelled lyricism. An admirable performance and a work which from the start, makes us want to listen to it again immediately »
concertclassic.com (National) – 30th october 2012
« …the intense Absence of timeless poetry »
La Lettre du Musicien – November 2012
« The musical narrative meanders from one phase to another, never taking the direct and defined track.This gift for constant re-invention runs throughout nearly all of Burgan’s work, and cleverly interpreted by the Elements »
Qobuz.com – 29th october 2012 (about Absence)
« Absence by Patrick Burgan is a demonstration of skilful use of narrative and a particularly delicate form of song.The singers’ minimal tones open up a world of pure poetry »
Classiquenews – 25th october 2012
« Known for his artistic skill, Patrick Burgan disguises,through his inspired pictorial eloquence, a superb narrative technique which delivers a bubbling of magmatic clusters, in colourful counterpoint between the continual motion of the instrumental strata. The central movement depicts the combats between the rebellious angels and the celestial troops, but is also a very masterly dodecaphonic fugue, before the dramatic plunge of the descent into the Abyss »
L’Education Musicale – April 2010 (about La chute de Lucifer)
« Awe-inspiring… the figuralisme of such a transition with the words « het zwaluwt en’t zwiert en’t zwatelt » leads the voices to cry out as if in a frenetic aviary… the fugue on « de hazel-noot » is an impressive build-up… the last section – « een bladje op het water » – a surge of rippling waves »
De Volkskrant – 18th march 2010 (about Het Zielebladje)
« An opportunity to put on his remarkable musical score Nativités as first part to Mozart’s Requiem came as a pleasant surprise for many. These two works constitute a highly complementary programme. The composer, who was there to briefly introduce Nativités, modestly gave away a few clues. Composed in a very learned style, it is surprisingly easy to listen to. Birth is portrayed in its religious context using the narrative of the Stabat Mater speciosa, but overall it is secular with the narrative in five European languages. Superpositions and associations in the highly original narrative attain a remarkable result.The voices are used as solo instruments or to accompany a section – often voice by voice.The virtuosity demanded for this twenty minute piece and a capella is terrifying. The Elements chamber choir has overcome all the difficulties and audacities of present day composers »
Res Musica – may 2009
« On request of Damien Ventula, Feux was composed in 2007 as a solo cello piece, just after the first performance of the opera Peter Pan at the Theatre du Châtelet. In Patrick Burgan’s compostion, we can sense a release of energy, which for three years had been focussed on a piece for a large orchestra, suddenly is concentrated on just one instrument. The first movement « Bacchanale » is particularly gripping by its spirited, dramatic nature, yet still keeping a pure form of music.The third movement Pansori – name of traditional Korean opera – is based on a stark and percussive musical discourse. It gives an unexpected pivotal focus to the work and creates a balance with the final virtuoso »
Res Musica – november 2007
“« This lyrical fantasy in three worlds (past, present and imaginary) is a score enlightened by the magic of instrumental tones, rich in rhythmic invention and harmonic spells. Since Hänsel und Gretel or L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, the world of childhood has perhaps not been adorned with more attractive clothing »
Le Monde – december 2006 (about the opera Peter Pan)
« Patrick Burgan brings us Plaisir originel where certain sections reach great finesse – sometimes very moving (…) creating subtle and often magnficent harmonies »
Le Monde de la musique – november 2005
« Inspired by a poem by Edmond Haraucourt (l’Eden), the Patrick Burgan’s « Mystère hystérique » Le Plaisir originel, for the same number of musicians, a more rounded work, comes across as a crisp vocal piece with very direct and refined forms of expression »
Diapason – november 2005
« He works on the supple embrace between poetry and music permitting all kinds of instrumental and orchestral diversity (…) He projects the narrative reflection through the repeated musical prisms but always lovingly yielding to the underlying poetic beauty »
L’éducation musicale – may/june 2004
« The score is a real treasure chest ! : the chanted echo superposes the voice of Narcisse, voice and percussion polyphonies, at times a hanging sensuality »
Le Monde de la Musique – April 2000 (about the opera La source des images)
« The first world performance of Patrick Burgan’s Audi Coelum, truly rich musical composition with a fascinating poetic elegance »
Diapason – november 1998
« With his Géhennes, composed in memory of Gérard Grisey, Patrick Burgan brings us probably the most original piece on the album. A lively, telluric work »
Diapason – may 2000
« Patrick Burgan has beautifully and gracefully set the poems of Lorca and Marchado to music. There are hints of Gesualdo in this immense and intense humility »
Répertoire – september 1999 (about La puerta de la Luz)
« Inspired by the large span of Spanish poetry, Burgan sketches the lines which seem to be the lyrical personification of ideal beauty in the midst of an abstract yet sensual context »
Classica – September 1999 (about La puerta de la Luz)
« These four poems by Garcia Lorca, and Antonio Machado take on the form of a vast madrigal and give rise to a diverse musical interpretation, playing with different vocal forms where the narrative is highlighted. Subtle quickenings of pace, chiaro-oscuro patterns, a looming background, instrumental techniques : all is there ! »
La Lettre du Musicien – june 1999 (about La puerta de la Luz)
« This music reveals a truly creative talent. It is a masterful piece of work as much as in its coherence, originality and pure, smoothly flowing lyricism, as in the harmony between the musical and poetic content »
ABC (Madrid) – 22th may 1997 (about La puerta de la Luz)
« How we can admire Patrick Burgan’s Puerta de la Luz ! So much emotion in this great drama based on the child and death ! »
Le Méridional – 14th april 1997
« This epic drama thrusts a child into a world of darkness, dreams and death ; so much mournful arcana driving the voices to an immense climax of lamentation until the final verse « You have left me on a flower of dark, liquid sobs ». Exactitude, rigour, the Musicatreize voices transported the large audience to emotional heights . »
Le Provencal – 15th april 1997 (about La puerta de la Luz)
« Patrick Burgan covers the whole spectrum of musical creation »
Télérama n° 2486 – 3rd september 1997
« The Stabat Mater by Patrick Burgan expresses a trinity of distress, sadness and pain which tells of (…) pure, raw emotion »
Le Méridional – 14th april 1997
« If the two muted and wistfully mournful outer sections prompt grief, the unbridled, radiant central section bonds with the reflection of July in the stained glass windows, to delight the audience »
Le Berry républicain – july 1997 (about Soleils)
« He knows how to vary a vast array of unexpected moods and rhythms in scientific manner. Patrick Burgan is a new composer with an undeniable sensitivity »
Le Monde de la Musique – December 1995
« In La Puerta de la Luz, four texts by Garcia Lorca and Machado are alternated in a perfectly construed musical discourse, admiration rises when Lorca’s « little song of the unborn child » introduces a contralto voice – the excellence of the soloist -. This is a truly inspirational moment and succeeds in creating a sense of splendid desolation »
ABC (Madrid) – 29th may 1994
« Burgan has talent and is one of the future great French composers »
Diario 16 (Madrid) – 27th may 1994
« Patrick Burgan shows in Sources how he likes to tease the notes of the instruments and how he knows how to keep a perfect sense of balance in his work »
ABC (Madrid) – 19th february 1994
« With Ison a magnificent piece for the organ, Burgan lets rip a stream of expressivity, his extroverted theatricality, as was the case in his work Cristallin a few weeks previous »
ABC (Madrid) – 21th may 1993
« Part of the audience who had come to listen to the dialogue beween the organ and the fanfares of the brass quintet Epsilon (…) were left somewhat bewildered in this last piece Ex Maria virgine… Michel Bourcier was the perfect performer of this score »
Le Figaro – 17th august 1992