Simon O'Neill
Introduction
Simon O'Neill was a finalist in the 2002 Metropolitan Opera National Auditions and joined the Met roster with Siegmund in Wagner's Die Walkure. In his role debut as Siegmund in the new Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden conducted by Antonio Pappano, Simon was described as "the star"..."an exemplary Siegmund, terrific of voice"..." the finest I've heard"..."a towering presence" and "a turbo-charged tenor".
Simon’s, discography includes ‘Father and Son, Wagner Scenes and Arias’ (Lohengrin, Parsifal, Siegmund and Siegfried) with Pietari Inkinen and the NZSO for EMI, the title role in Otello with Sir Colin Davis with the LSO, Die Zauberflöte for the Salzburg Festival Mozart 25 DVD with Riccardo Muti, Frank Martin’s Der Sturm with the Netherlands Radio Symphony, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with Vladimir Ashkenanzy and the Sydney Symphony and Chauson’s Le Roi Arthus with Leon Botstein and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
In the summer of 2010 Simon sang the title role in Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival and Florestan in Fidelio at the Grafenegg Festival followed by Mahler's Eighth Symphony at the Edinburgh Festival. Simon then opened La Scala's 10/11 season as Siegmund in Die Walküre with Barenboim. Other recent engagements include Cavaradossi in Tosca in Berlin, Siegfried in Götterdämmerung in La Coruna, Das lied von der Erde with Levine at Carnegie Hall and at the Deutsche Opera Berlin with Runnicles, Max in Der Freischütz at Theater an der Wien, Lohengrin at Houston Grand Opera and his debut at the Berlin Staatsoper as Siegmund. In the summer of 2011 Simon sings Parisifal at the Bayreuth Festival.
Engagements in the 11/12 season included Walter in Die Meistersinger at Covent Garden, Cavaradossi in Tosca in Hamburg, Florestan in Fidelio for Houston Grand Opera, Siegmund in Die Walkure at the Hamburg State Opera, Parsifal at Vienna Staatsoper and Nixon in China in San Francisco. Concerts included Missa Solemnis with the Boston Symphony with Kurt Masur at Carnegie Hall, concert performances of Fidelio with the National Symphony Orchestra, Der Freischütz with the London Symphony Orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach at the Kennedy Center, Die Walküre with Pietari Inkinen and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Gurrelieder at the London BBC Proms.
Engagements in the 12/13 season and beyond include Siegmund at the Royal Opera House, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Houston Grand Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as at La Scala and the Vienna, Bayerische and Deutsche Staatsopers. Simon will also perform Parsifal at Teatro Real Madrid and Covent Garden, Tosca in Tokyo, Otello and Götterdämmerung in Houston, Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Paris Opera, Fidelio in Hamburg and significant roles at the Metropolitan Opera. Concert appearances include Das Lied von der Erde in Strasbourg, Beethoven 9 at the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Glagolitic Mass with the Czech Philharmonic, and Die Walkure in concert with Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and in Berlin.
