Internationally renowned New Zealand tenor Simon O’Neill has won the Best Classical Artist Tui at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards.
New Zealand tenor Simon O'Neill Photo: Supplied
He was recognised for his Distant Beloved album, which features a selection of German Lieder by Beethoven, Schumann, Richard Strauss, and Wagner – for which he is best known.
O’Neill was unable to attend the award ceremony at Spark Arena in Auckland but sent a message to RNZ Concert, saying it was “wonderful” to be recognised in this way.
O’Neill also congratulated the other finalists - Michael Houstoun and Bella Hristova and The Linkwood Guitar Duo – saying their recordings are “great” and “it’s a real honour to be considered along with you all”.
Pianist Terence Dennis, who worked on Distant Beloved with O'Neill and O'Neill's wife Carmel were in Auckland to accept the award on his behalf.
After the ceremony Dennis said they were "thrilled" with the win. "We feel very honoured to receive this award," he said. "It's been very special that [the album's] been so accepted... and taken internationally by Universal, so that's a great honour."
Terence Dennis and O'Neill have worked together for nearly 30 years. Dennis was O’Neill’s professor when he first started at Otago University. O’Neill described Dennis as “not just a mentor, but a great friend”.
In an interview with RNZ earlier this year Simon O’Neill said he felt privileged to be able to sing “these great German hero roles”, some of which feature on Distant Beloved.
Tenor Simon O'Neill (right) with Terence Dennis and Christine Goerke after a recital in Dallas in 2019 Photo: Supplied
Distant Beloved was inspired by his favourite CD, the 1965 recording of “the great German tenor” Fritz Wunderlich, which featured works by Beethoven and Strauss. “I expanded the repertoire a little,” O’Neill said. “We started off with Beethoven’s ‘An die ferne Geliebte’ which means in German ‘to my distant beloved’.”
He described the album’s title – Distant Beloved - as “deeply evocative”, saying his thoughts are never far from his family back home when he is performing abroad. He’s on the road for more than nine months a year. The album is dedicated to his wife and three children.
The songs on the CD has “that distance, that yearning” O'Neil says. “We started off with Beethoven… then some Schumann then… Richard Strauss, which is just beautiful stuff .... And it finishes off with Wagner’s ‘Wesendonck Lieder’. We’re really proud of the CD."
“I’m looking forward to getting back to New Zealand and celebrating with everyone,” he says in his video.
Simon O'Neill is currently in Europe, having just performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Prague Philharmonic for a concert that marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
He’ll be back in New Zealand to perform in Hamilton and Tauranga at the end of the month before heading to Tokyo in late December and then onto New York to perform Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the New York Philharmonic and acclaimed Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
Bella Hirstova and Michael Houstoun Photo: Supplied
The Finalists
Other finalists for the Best Classical Artist | Te Kaipuoro Inamata Toa for 2019 included Michael Houstoun and Bella Hristova for The Complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas and The Linkwood Guitar Duo, featuring Jane Curry and Owen Moriarty, for the album Music from New Zealand for Two Guitars.
In 2017 New Zealand’s finest pianist, Michael Houstoun - who is retiring from performing in 2020 - toured with Bella Hristova who won the 2007 Michael Hill International Violin Competition. The tour with Houstoun performing the Beethoven sonatas was part of her prize.
The Complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas, which was released in April 2019, features 33 pieces of music, spanning more than four hours. It was released on Rattle – the eleventh for Houstoun with the Label – and was recorded at the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Rehearsal rooms in Auckland.
Owen Moriarty and Jane Curry Photo: Supplied
Music from New Zealand for Two Guitars was also released in April on the Naxos label. It features works by acclaimed New Zealand composers John Psathas, Jack Body and Anthony Ritchie.
The Linkwood Guitar Duo, consisting of Jane Curry and Owen Moriarty – who make up one half of the New Zealand Guitar Quartet – told RNZ Concert’s Upbeat programme that recording the album wasn’t a simple process as there’s very few compositions for just two guitars in New Zealand.
They said they worked closely with composers to create new works for two guitars, and they hope this album will inspire other composers to create more works for this combination.
The full list of winners from the 2019 Vodafone Music Awards can be found here.
