This morning we received the particularly sad news that composer Philippe Boesmans passed away last evening after a brief illness. We are of course deeply affected by the passing of this artist and offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Philippe.
"We want to remember Philippe for his humanism, his humor and his generosity", says Peter de Caluwe, director of De Munt. "He was a welcome guest in our Theater and an essential pillar of support for our house. His artistic contribution to the Munt and to contemporary opera is invaluable. He served as a sounding board for three successive Munt directors, was never reluctant to provide constructive commentary on our house's programming, for which he made several original suggestions on multiple occasions. His opinion mattered, as a friend and as a professional, and will be greatly missed."
As resident artist of De Munt under Gerard Mortier, Bernard Foccroulle and Peter de Caluwe respectively, he received numerous creative commissions from the Munt. This close collaboration began with La Passion de Gilles, his first opera which premiered in 1983. This was followed by Reigen (1993) based on a play by Arthur Schnitzler, Wintermärchen (1999) based on Shakespeare and Julie (2004) based on the play Fröken Julie by August Strindberg. All these titles were directed by Luc Bondy, who also took on the librettos each time. Later we created, in co-production with leading houses in Paris and Aix-en-Provence Yvonne, princesse de Bourgogne (2009), Au Monde (2014) and most recently Pinocchio (2017), the latter two titles in collaboration with Joël Pommerat. Just a few weeks ago we announced a new opera by Philippe Boesmans. Together with director-librettist Richard Brunel, Philippe put the finishing touches on On purge bébé over the past months, a comedy based on the farce of the same name by Feydeau. That work will premiere in December of this year.
In addition to his scenic work, Philippe was also very active as a composer of chamber music and symphonic works. His song cycle Trakl-Lieder was performed by the Munt Orchestra in February. This took place under the direction of his good friend and conductor Sylvain Cambreling, who premiered many of his pieces.
Philippe was a monument to Belgian and European music. His works were performed all over the world. New productions of his operas continue to appear regularly on stage, recently in Stuttgart and Paris (Reigen) or Nancy (Julie). He was a reference for many composers, including Benoît Mernier and Kris Defoort, whom he mentored on their commissioned works for the Munt.
We wish everyone who knew Philippe closely or from afar renewed strength. The Munt will honor him in all serenity with music.
Biography Philippe Boesmans