Burles went to the opera from childhood since his father, who worked for the Marseille tram, was a music lover and
amateur musician. He studied with Cazauran and made his debut in 1958 in Toulon and
sang also in Oran.
The following year, he appeared at the Marseille opera for the first time (as Almaviva) – and would sing almost
exclusively at that house for more than ten years to come. A few guest appearances took him to Venice, Torino, Brussels and Lyon.
In 1970, he moved to Paris, where he first sang at the Opéra-Comique, and from 1971 also at the Opéra. As a guest,
he went to Gent, to Spain, to Switzerland, Israel, the Netherlands.
His repertory encompassed every style from baroque to 20th century music; he specialized in very high roles, like Chapelou,
Arturo in I puritani (high F included), Tonio, Nadir, Georges Brown, Lindoro; he also sang Gérald, Nemorino, Vincent,
Ernesto, and a lot of Offenbach operettas. In his later years, he switched to comprimario parts.
At the Opéra, he sang until 2002, and in Marseille until 2006; his last performances at both theaters were as Altoum.
Reference 1, reference 2, reference
3, reference 4, reference 5