Michel Sénéchal

Born: 1927-02-11

Michel Sénéchal (11 February 1927 – 1 April 2018) was a French tenor, particularly associated with French and Italian character roles in a repertory ranging from Baroque to contemporary works. Michel Sénéchal was born in Paris and sang as a child in a church choir in Taverny. He made his vocal studies at the Paris Conservatory, and made his debut at La Monnaie in Brussels in 1950, where he would remain until 1952. Upon his return in France he made his debut in Paris, at the Paris Opéra and the Opéra-Comique, where he sang the lead tenor roles in opera such as La dame blanche, Les Indes galantes, Il matrimonio segreto, The Barber of Seville, Le comte Ory, etc. He sang at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in Rameau's Platée for his debut there in 1956. He also appeared at the Vienna State Opera, the festivals of Salzburg and Glyndebourne, in Mozart roles such as Ottavio and Tamino. Sénéchal also appeared regularly in operettas, especially by Offenbach, such as Orphée aux enfers, La Vie parisienne, La Périchole, where his comic talent was shown to fine effect. As the years went by Sénéchal started concentrating on character roles such as Basilio in Nozze di Figaro, Goro in Madama Butterfly, the Holy Fool in Boris Godunov, Monsieur Triquet in Eugene Onegin, Guillot de Morfontaine in Manon, and the four servants in Les contes d'Hoffmann, which were his debut roles at the Metropolitan Opera on 8 March 1982. Sénéchal took part in the creation of contemporary works such as the roles of Fabien in Marcel Landowski's Montségur and Pope Leo X in Konrad Boehmer's Doctor Faustus. He remained active on stage until late in life, appearing in performance into the early years of the 21st century. He began teaching at "L'École d'art lyrique" of the Paris Opéra in 1979, and was eventually named director of the school. He can be heard in several recordings, notably in La dame blanche, Mireille, and Thais, made in his prime, in the early 1960s. Michel Sénéchal died in Eaubonne on 1 April 2018, aged 91. Source: Article "Michel Sénéchal" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.


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Rusalka

as The Gamekeeper
Released: 2002-12-21

Renee Fleming stars in Dvorak's three-act opera based on two fairy-tales which tells the story...

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La Bohème

as Parpignol (singing voice)
Released: 1988-03-09

The film tells the story of a love affair between a poor poet and an equally poor seamstress in...

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Giordano: Andrea Chénier

as Incredible
Released: 1996-11-09

This live from the Met telecast from October 1996 of Giordano’s infrequently performed verismo...

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Madama Butterfly

as Goro
Released: 1974-09-14

Mirella Freni, Placido Domingo, Christa Ludwig, and Robert Kerns star in this Jean-Pierre...

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Otello

as Roderigo
Released: 1973-05-21

Herbert von Karajan directed this film of Verdi’s Shakespearan masterpiece as well as conducting...

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La 99ème minute

as uncredited
Released: 1966-08-23

Death live! In the middle of filming a detective drama, the main actor Gérard Gérard dies from a...

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Manon

as Guillot de Morfontaine
Released: 2001-01-01

Live 2001 recording at the Bastille opera in Paris in a production for l'Opéra de Paris by...

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La Belle Hélène

as Ménélas, roi de Sparte
Released: 2000-12-01

This is a joy from beginning to end. Although there are many tricks and ideas from Laurent...

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Les Contes d'Hoffmann

as Andrès / Cochenille / Frantz / Pittichinaccio
Released: 2003-11-22

Live performance from the Opéra National de Paris, 2003.

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Le Grand Échiquier

as Self
First aired: 1972-01-12

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