NEWS FROM NEW ZEALAND OPERA STAR SIMON O'NEILL

NEW YORK – Tenor Simon O’Neill, from Ashburton, New Zealand will return to the Metropolitan Opera as Siegmund in Die Walkuere after understudying Placido Domingo in the role since 2004.

O’Neill is also double cast as Siegmund with Domingo in the Royal Opera Covent Garden new production of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” in October this year. He is the first New Zealander since his mentor Sir Donald McIntyre to appear in Die Walkuere at both the Met and Covent Garden. Commenting from Vienna where he is currently performing Andre Previn’s opera A Streetcar named Desire O’Neill said “It is a great honour to be cast in such a role with both these prestigious houses, a dream come true.”

Joining O’Neill in the production is Lisa Gasteen as Bruennhilde, James Morris as Wotan, Deborah Voigt as Sieglinde, Michelle DeYoung as Fricka. The production will be conducted by Maestro Lorin Maazel. These performances will mark Maazel’s return to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time in nearly 45 years.

Maazel, music director of the New York Philharmonic since 2002, made 16 appearances at the Met from Nov. 1, 1962, to Jan. 19, 1963, conducting Mozart's “Don Giovanni” and Strauss' “Der Rosenkavalier.” He will conduct five performances of “Die Walkuere” Jan. 7-Feb. 9, 2008, the Met said Wednesday.

The gap between performances is believed to be the largest in Met history, director of archives Robert Tuggle said. The longest break he could recall involved conductor Pierre Monteux, who led Met performances from Nov. 17, 1917, to April 15, 1919, then returned from Nov. 16, 1953, to Feb. 4, 1956."One tries to get into the Guinness book of records somehow, however one can," Maazel said during a telephone interview. "They were offering a revival of an opera I'm very fond of during a period in which I was more or less free.

The last person to conduct at the Met while he served as music director of the Philharmonic was Leonard Bernstein, who led a new production of Verdi's “Falstaff” in 1964.

New Met general manager Peter Gelb has made an effort to bring in higher-stature guest conductors in future seasons, a group scheduled to include Riccardo Muti and Seiji Ozawa.

Website: http://www.simononeill.com/