Simon O’Neill Debuts On Decca

Simon O’Neill, one of the world’s leading Heldentenor’s has released his debut album for  Decca, Distant Beloved  with compatriot pianist Terence Dennis, performing the Art Songs of Beethoven, Schumann, R Strauss and Wagner in a tribute to O’Neill’s idol, the late tenor Fritz Wunderlich

Sydney audiences will know him for his performances as Sergei in Lady Macbeth of Mtensk and as Otello for Opera Australia and in Mahler’s Symphony No 8 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Born in New Zealand, Simon O’Neill has established himself as one of the finest Heldentenors on the international stage, performing with the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Berlin, Hamburg and Bayerische Staatsopern, Teatro alla Scala and the Bayreuth, Salzburg, Edinburgh and BBC Proms Festivals. He has performed with number of illustrious conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Sir Antonio Pappano, Pietari Inkinen, Pierre Boulez, Sir Mark Elder, Sir Colin Davis, Simone Young, Edo de Waart, Donald Runnicles, Sir Simon Rattle, Jaap Van Zweden and Christian Thielemann.

O’Neill is an alumnus of the University of Otago, the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard Opera Center where he worked with Luciano Pavarotti on two arias – ‘Vedrommi intorno’ from Mozart’s Idomeneo and ‘Angelo casto e bel’ from Donizetti’s Il Duca d’alba.  He has an extensive discography and has won numerous awards.

The tracks:

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) An die ferne Geliebte 1Auf dem Hügel sitz ich spähend/ 2. Wo die Berge so blau/3. Leichte Segler in den Höhen/4. Diese Wolken in den Höhen/5. Es kehret der Maien, es blühet die Au/6. Nimm sie hin denn, diese Lieder

ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810–1856) Myrthen, Op. 25/ 7. Widmung/8. Du bist wie eine Blume

RICHARD STRAUSS (1864–1949) 9. Zueignung, Op. 10 No. 1/10. Die Nacht, Op. 10 No. 3/11. Allerseelen, Op. 10 No. 8/12. Breit’ über mein Haupt, Op. 19 No. 2/13. Ruhe, meine Seele!, Op. 27 No. 1/14. Cäcilie, Op. 27 No. 2/15. Heimliche Aufforderung, Op. 27 No. 3/16. Morgen!, Op. 27 No. 4/17. Ich trage meine Minne, Op. 32 No. 1

RICHARD WAGNER (1813–1883) Wesendonck Lieder 18. Der Engel/19. Stehe still/20. Im Treibhaus/21. Schmerzen/22. Träume