Simon O’Neill is one of the finest Helden-tenors on the international stage.
He has frequently performed with the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Berliner, Hamburger, Wiener and Bayerische Staatsopern, Teatro alla Scala and the Bayreuth, Salzburg, Edinburgh and BBC Proms Festivals.
This season Simon will make his debut at the Teatro Municipal de Sao Paolo as Tristan. He will also sing Mahler’s Symphony No.8 in Reykjavik, tour with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Das Lied von der Erde in Parma and Sydney, where he will also perform Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 and the title role in Siegfried with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. A return to the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra will see Simon perform Siegfried in Götterdämmerung.
Simon’s performances as Siegmund in Die Walküre at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Pappano, Teatro alla Scala and Berlin Staatsoper with Barenboim, at the Metropolitan Opera with Runnicles in the celebrated Otto Schenk production returning with Luisi in the Lepage Ring Cycle and in the Götz Friedrich production at Deutsche Oper Berlin with Rattle were performed to wide critical acclaim. He was described in the international press as “an exemplary Siegmund, terrific of voice”, “THE Wagnerian tenor of his generation” and “a turbo-charged tenor”. Other career highlights include his performances of Siegmund at the Wiener Staatsoper and the title roles of Lohengrin and Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival.
Simon has recorded the title role of Siegfried with three orchestras: Sir Simon Rattle and the Symphonieorchestrer des Bayerishen Rundfunks (2023), the Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder (2020) and with Jaap van Zweden for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Ring Cycle recording for Naxos (2018).
Simon became an Officer of New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours list, he is an alumnus and holds a Doctor of Music (Honoris Causa) from Victoria University of Wellington and is an alumnus of the University of Otago, the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard Opera Center. He is a Fulbright Scholar, was awarded the 2005 Arts Laureate of New Zealand and was a grand finalist in the 2002 Metropolitan Opera National Auditions returning as guest artist in 2007. He also appears on the 1998 New Zealand one-dollar performing arts postage stamp.
