Michel Sénéchal
As he gradually moved away from leading roles, Michel Sénéchal has established himself as a star among comprimario singers. His vignettes, however brief, are of an order that instantly raises the artistic level in any production he chooses to embrace. His sophisticated sense of makeup, stage movement, comic timing, and seizing each element of irony and rendering it unforgettable all are built upon the underpinnings of a handsome light tenor voice, well-trained and always pleasant to hear. So dominant has this supporting artist become, the catalog reveals multiple recordings of his core repertory. His only predecessor to have achieved such prominence in this specialized niche was Swiss tenor Hughes Cuenod, an indelible artist himself, but one with a even lighter instrument.
Following studies at the Paris Conservatory, Sénéchal made his debut in 1950 at La Monnaie in Brussels. Under contract there for three seasons, he sang the lyric tenor repertory, as he continued to do later at both the Paris Opéra and the Opéra-Comique and in other theaters through France. His roles grew to include Rossini's Almaviva and Comte Ory, Hylas in Berlioz's Les Troyens, Paolino in Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto, Georges Brown in Boieldieu's La dame blanche, and three of Mozart's leading tenor parts: Tamino, Ferrando, and Don Ottavio. At Aix-en-Provence in 1956, Sénéchal sang the travesty role of Rameau's Platée, a curious creature of heart-stopping homeliness who believes herself to be beautiful. The role is both a leading one and a character study. His success in the role was so great, he was called upon to perform the part in Amsterdam, at the Monnaie, and later, the Opéra-Comique.
Steadily, Sénéchal established his supremacy in character roles, undertaking Monsieur Triquet in Tchaikovsky's Yevgeny Onegin (recorded with Solti); Schmidt in Werther; Trabuco in Verdi's La forza del destino; Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos; Erice in Cavalli's L'Ormindo; Valzacchi, Teapot, and Arithmetic in Ravel's enchanted L'enfant et les Sortileges; Gonzalve in Ravel's L'heure Espagnole (triumphantly sung at the 1966 Glyndebourne Festival with a cast including Hughes Cuenod as Torquemada); Rodriguez in Don Quichotte; the Brahmin in Roussel's exotic Padmâvatî; as well as Le Dancaire and Don Basilio, which he sang annually at the Salzburg Festival beginning in 1972. Sénéchal was chosen for the role of Don Jerome when Prokofiev's rarely performed Betrothal in a Monastery was produced at Strasbourg in 1973.
For Sénéchal's Metropolitan Opera debut on March 8, 1982, he was engaged for Les Contes d'Hoffmann, performing the four comic tenor roles, a turn that by then had all but become a signature assignment. Other roles following at the Metropolitan were Guillot in Massenet's Manon and Mozart's Don Basilio. Sénéchal has, in addition to established repertory stage works, undertaken contemporary operas. At Toulouse, he sang Fabien in the premiere of Marcel Landowski's Montségur in 1985. The same year, he appeared as Pope Leo X in Boehmer's Docktor Faustus at the Paris Opéra.
Sénéchal's mastery of the tenor character repertory has repeatedly brought him into the recording studio. His four comic characters in Hoffmann have been preserved on disc three times, while in James Levine's recording of Andrea Chénier, Sénéchal appears together with his greatly respected Italian counterpart, Piero di Palma, and supporting principals Scotto, Domingo, and Milnes. In addition to Offenbach's Hoffmann and a near-definitive Orphée aux enfers recorded under Plasson in 1978, Sénéchal appears with Dame Felicity Lott in a recording of La belle Hélène released in 2000.
© TiVo
Similar artists
Discography
21 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Offenbach: La Belle Hélène
Felicity Lott, Michel Sénéchal, Yann Beuron, Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 6 Sep 2001
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini · Le comte Ory
Michel Sénéchal, Sari Barabas, Vittorio Gui, Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 6 May 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cools, J. Strauss I, J. Strauss II: Valses de Vienne, extraits (Mono Version)
Mado Robin, Michel Dens, Michel Sénéchal, Jules Gressier
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mady Mesple - Michel Plasson
Mady Mesplé, Jane Berbié, Michel Sénéchal, Michel Plasson, Orchestre Du Capitole De Toulouse
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Platée (Remastered, Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Hans Rosbaud, Nicolai Gedda, Michel Sénéchal
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hérold: Le Pré-aux-Clercs, extraits (Mono Version)
Renée Doria, Michele Le Bris, Michel Sénéchal, Jésus Etcheverry
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: La fuite en Égypte, extrait de L'enfance du Christ, Op. 25 (Mono Version)
Michel Sénéchal, Orchestre radio-symphonique de Strasbourg, Alphonse Hoch
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Madame Butterfly, extraits chantés en français (Stereo Version)
Berthe Monmart, Michel Sénéchal, Orchester der Württembergischen Staatstheater Stuttgart, Ferdinand Leitner
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Platée (Collection trésors, mono version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Hans Rosbaud, Nicolai Gedda, Michel Sénéchal
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Messager: Fortunio, extraits (Mono Version)
Liliane Berton, Michel Sénéchal, Orchestre Colonne, Pierre Dervaux
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Un demi-siècle de mélodies françaises (Mono Version)
Michel Sénéchal, Jacqueline Bonneau
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz : L'Enfance du Christ, Op. 25 (Mono Version) (Mono Version)
Orchestre des Concerts Colonne, Pierre Dervaux, Michel Sénéchal
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Françaix: Paris, à nous deux! & Déploration de Tonton (Mono Version)
Genevieve Touraine, Michel Sénéchal, Quatuor de saxophones Marcel-Mule, Jean Françaix
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vogel: Démophon (Mono Version)
Nadine Sautereau, Michel Sénéchal, Orchestre National de France, Georges Tzipine
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Planquette: Les cloches de Corneville, extraits (Stereo Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Franck Pourcel, Janine Micheau, Michel Sénéchal
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Roussel: Pièces chorales et orchestrales (Mono Version)
Georges Tzipine, Michel Sénéchal, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
4 Ave Maria (Mono Version)
Michel Sénéchal, Noëlie Pierront
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fastes et divertissements de Versailles, vol. 3: La musique et la scène (Mono Version)
Janine Micheau, Michel Sénéchal, Maurice Hewitt
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: La fuite en Égypte - de Lalande: Deus in adjutorium meum (Mono Version)
Michel Sénéchal, Monseigneur Alphonse Hoch, Orchestre de chambre de Radio-Strasbourg
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Françaix: Paris, à nous deux! & Déploration de Tonton (Mono Version)
Quatuor de saxophones Marcel-Mule, Jean Françaix, Michel Sénéchal, Genevieve Touraine
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Planquette: Les cloches de Corneville, Extracts (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Franck Pourcel, Janine Micheau, Michel Sénéchal
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo