Bernard Sinclair (1937 – 27 November 2015) was a French singer (

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

) particularly associated with the repertoire of the

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

, but also

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

. He is also an actor, playwright and director. He died in the

10th arrondissement of Paris The 10th arrondissement of Paris (''Xe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dixième'' ("10th arrondissement of Paris" = "dixième arrondisseme ...

Life

Sinclair was born in 1937, in

Marcq-en-Barœul Marcq-en-Barœul (; pcd, Marke-in-Bareul; older nl, Marke) is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is a suburb of the city of Lille, and is immediately adjacent to it on the northeast. It is ...

in the Nord department. He was first a medical student, before turning to a lyrical career, on the advice of Élie Delfosse, who was to become director of the Opéra de Nancy. From the very beginning, he immediately took up the leading roles of

and operetta in provincial theatres. It is true that this seductive "baritone-martin" has a lot for him, a voice full of charm and radiant treble, a fine musicality, a physical youthful prime, joined to an elegance and a talent of comedian. Paris discovered him in 1966 in ''La danseuse aux étoiles'' at the Théâtre Mogador. Very quickly he appeared at the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a s ...

, the

Théâtre du Palais-Royal The Théâtre du Palais-Royal () is a 750-seat Parisian theatre at 38 rue de Montpensier, located at the northwest corner of the Palais-Royal in the Galerie de Montpensier at its intersection with the Galerie de Beaujolais. Brief history ...

, and the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

. There he sang a few roles of opéra comiques and opera.

Repertory

; Opera * Frédéric in ''

Lakmé ''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the Opéra-Comique at the (second) Salle Favart in P ...

'', * Mercutio in ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

'', * Escamillo in ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'', * Pelléas in '' Pelléas et Mélisande''; but above all the operetta repertoire in which he excelled particularly well, his favourite roles being: Franz Lehár's '' Paganini'', Danilo in ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt t ...

'', '' Der Zarewitsch'', Brissac in ''

Les Mousquetaires au couvent ''Les mousquetaires au couvent'' (''The Musketeers at the Convent'') is an opérette in three acts by Louis Varney, with a libretto by Jules Prével and Paul Ferrier, after the 1835 vaudeville ''L'habit ne fait pas le moine'' by Amable de Saint-Hi ...

'', ''Le Comte de Luxembourg'', Goethe in ''Frédérique'', Sou-Chong in ''

The Land of Smiles ''The Land of Smiles'' (German: ') is a 1929 romantic operetta in three acts by Franz Lehár. The German language libretto was by and Fritz Löhner-Beda. The performance duration is about 100 minutes. This was one of Lehár's later works, and h ...

'', etc.

Recordings

Throughout his career. he recorded numerous works, first for the lyrical service of the ORTF, and then for the recording house

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, in particular ''

La Fille de madame Angot ''La fille de Madame Angot'' (''Madame Angot's Daughter'') is an opéra comique in three acts by Charles Lecocq with words by Clairville, Paul Siraudin and Victor Koning. It was premiered in Brussels in December 1872 and soon became a success in ...

'', ''

Les Cloches de Corneville ''Les cloches de Corneville'' (''The Bells of Corneville'', sometimes known in English as ''The Chimes of Normandy'') is an opéra-comique in three acts, composed by Robert Planquette to a libretto by Louis Clairville and Charles Gabet. The st ...

'', and ''

Walzer aus Wien ''Walzer aus Wien'' ("Waltzes from Vienna," titled ''The Great Waltz'' in English) is a singspiel pasticcio in three acts, libretto by Alfred Maria Willner, and Ernst Marischka, music by Johann Strauss II (son), arranged by Erich Wolfgang Korngol ...

'', with

Mady Mesplé Mady Mesplé (7 March 1931 – 30 May 2020) was a French opera singer, considered the leading coloratura soprano of her generation in France, and sometimes heralded as the successor to Mado Robin, with ''Lakmé'' by Delibes becoming her signatur ...

New career on stage

Over the past few years, he has approached several classic roles (''

Le Cid ''Le Cid'' is a five-act French tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille, first performed in December 1636 at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris and published the same year. It is based on Guillén de Castro's play ''Las Mocedades del Cid''. Castro' ...

''), created ('' Tessa, la nymphe au cœur fidèle''), created and directed his own play,'' Les Mouettes d' Étretat'', in which he plays the lead role of an old prisoner tyrannized by his cellmate at the . At the beginning of 2014, he produced and played ''Maille à partir'', a text created for him by , at .

Actor

* 2014: Pierre Corneille's ''

'', directed by , Théâtre du Nord-Ouest, Le Mois Molière

Versailles, Yvelines Versailles () is a commune in the department of the Yvelines, Île-de-France, renowned worldwide for the Château de Versailles and the gardens of Versailles, designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Located in the western suburbs of the French ...

. * 2013: ''Les Mouettes d'Étretat''''Les Mouettes d'Étretat''
/ref> by Bernard Sinclair, directed by Bernard Sinclair, Théâtre du Nord-Ouest.

Theatre direction

* 2014: Jean Giraudoux's ''Tessa, la nymphe au cœur fidèle'', Théâtre du Nord-Ouest * 2013: ''Les Mouettes d'Étretat'' by Bernard Sinclair, Théâtre du Nord-Ouest

References

External links

Bernard Sinclair - Pardonne-moi, chère patrie (From "La veuve joyeuse")
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Bernard French operatic baritones 20th-century French male opera singers 1937 births People from Nord (French department) 2015 deaths