Saturday 31 May 2025, Bozar... I can still hear Gilles Ledure saying it: "Troisième Prix, Prix du comte de Launoit, graaf de Launoit Prijs, Valère Burnon". And there he walked, neatly dressed in blue, hair loose, past the jury table. An extra hug from Anna Vinnitskaja and a warm embrace with Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden were no coincidence or mere formality.
When the 8-year-old boy from Marche-en-Famenne saw Vinnitskaja win the First Prize, he knew it: "One day I will participate in this Competition". And when he became Artist in Residence in 2022 at the prestigious Muziekkapel in Waterloo, he ended up in the class of Frank Braley, Avedis Kouyoumdjan and, yes indeed, Vanden Eynden. He came third in 1964. Burnon also came third, with thunderous applause, a standing ovation, royal greetings plus the Audience Prizes from Klara and Musiq3.
For me it was that first Friday of June 2026 the third time I saw him, after a concert at Bozar with the Grand Harmonie Orchestra of the Koninklijke Muziekkapel van de Gidsen conducted by Yves Segers and after a pleasant piano recital at the home of Mia Vleminckx (+) - Bogaert in Schiplaken. For the Festival der Voorkempen at De Werf 44 in Schilde he played Fauré, Nocturne 6, opus 63, as he did during his first round at Flagey, Liszt, Rachmaninov but also Szymanowski.
New wind
That too typifies Burnon: his desire for innovation. Although both are Polish and differed by only one generation in age, the musical language of Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) is very different from that of Chopin. Szymanowski does not shy away from dissonant harmonies and thus approaches Skriabin. Lyrical passages and recognizable motifs and rhythms alternate with robust sounds, typical of the folk music of the Tatras. From the 'Vingt Mazurkas opus 59' Valère Burnon chose four and thus conveyed the somewhat mysterious atmosphere of the region around Zakopane, where Szymanowski lived in a wooden house that is now a museum.
The choice of 'Treize Préludes opus 32' by Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) is a stage in his continuous search for lyricism and expression. Although 'Rach 3' may have earned Burnon a fine place in the rankings, the overwhelming charm of this Concerto is miles away from the unpredictable melodics of the Préludes. And yes, there are 'déjà vu, déjà entendu' pieces, such as the dreamy Moderato in G, no. 5 or the Vivo, 8, which Valère presented as an encore. The content of his second CD, which leads from Debussy and Prokofiev 8 to the avant-garde of Sergei Protopopov, testifies to the same youthful drive for innovation, with which he was confronted during a Masterclass in Russia.
Were there then no 'ah ah' moments? Certainly, there was the second Ballade by Franz Liszt (1811-1886) and the finest Nocturne by Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) one could imagine. Under the supple fingers of Burnon, opus 27,2 became a broadly spun tale of tenderness, surrender, ecstasy and pianistic freedom. For some a bit 'too' much, for me a revelation. No, we have not heard the last from Valère Burnon!