Father & Son - Wagner Scenes & Arias

Simon O'Neill has recorded a solo album for EMI Classics featuring scenes and arias from Wagner's Lohengrin, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung and Parsifal.

O'Neill, "one of the most exciting tenor voices of his generation," is partnered by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under conductor Pietari Inkinen.

Also featured are Susan Bullock as Sieglinde and Kundry and Sir John Tomlinson as Hagen. Recorded in collaboration with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Radio New Zealand, the CD will be released in New Zealand in February 2010 to coincide with a Simon O'Neill Wagner Gala in Wellington and other events. The international release will follow in April 2010.

"To make this CD," O'Neill said recently, "has been a dream of mine since my first Wagner role, Siegmund in Die Walküre at the Metropolitan Opera, in which I was the cover for the great Plácido Domingo. This album surveys Wagner's mature career from Lohengrin in 1850 through to Parsifal in 1882."

"Lohengrin the son of Parsifal and Siegfried the son of Siegmund, along with their magnificent fathers, represent a huge vocal development for the tenor voice," O'Neill continued. "These roles are essential to the path of a young heldentenor: from lyric moments to dramatic outbursts, Wagner offers the singer massive dramatic and vocal scope in developing the character and burnishing the instrument. The heart of this CD is devoted to the two great tenors of the Ring, Siegmund and Siegfried. Being given the chance to sing this music has been the highlight of my career. …. It is a tremendous honour to sing these wonderful characters both on the opera and concert stage and now on this recording."

Simon O'Neill has been hailed as one of today's finest heldentenors. In a matter of only a few years, he has become a principal artist with the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the Salzburg Festival, appearing internationally with conductors including James Levine, Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Antonio Pappano, Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez.

Born in New Zealand in 1971, O'Neill graduated from the University of Otago and the Victoria University of Wellington before continuing his studies in the United States as a Fulbright Scholar. He received his Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and completed his graduate studies at the Juilliard Opera Center.

O'Neill turned to the Wagnerian repertoire with the guidance of Sir Donald McIntyre in 2001 and won the United Kingdom Wagner Society competition that same year. After being named a grand finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions, he was engaged by the MET to cover Plácido Domingo as Siegmund in Die Walküre, launching his career in the Wagner repertoire. He has subsequently sung the roles of Siegmund at the Metropolitan Opera, Lohengrin and Siegmund at the Royal Opera House and Parsifal in concert with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.