Dennis O'Neill CBE (born 25 February 1948) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

operatic tenor and recording artist.

Early life

Dennis O'Neill was born in Pontarddulais, to

and Irish parents. He studied privately with Professor

Frederic Cox Robert Frederic Cox (1905–1985) was a British singer, composer and music educator. Cox was the Professor of Singing (1949–53), Principal (1953–1970) and Principal Emeritus (1970– ) at the Royal Manchester College of Music and then a singi ...

(Principal of the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

) in Manchester and then in London. At the age of 19 he spent the summer as an apprentice singer at the Opera Barga Festival in Tuscany, which confirmed his ambition to become an opera singer. Later, after a

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

award, he returned to Italy to study with Ettore Campogalliani in Mantua and Luigi Ricci in Rome.

Career

In his time, Dennis O'Neill has been connected with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London and the Welsh National Opera, Cardiff, Wales. He has given regular guest performances at the Metropolitan Opera New York, in Chicago, San Francisco, Zurich, Paris, Brussels, Vienna, Verona, Munich and Australia. In the opera world, O'Neill is perhaps best known as a Verdi exponent. He performs song recitals and oratorios, especially the tenor part of the Verdi Requiem. In 2005 he was awarded the Verdi Medal by the Amici di Verdi. O'Neill is committed to the education of younger opera singers, and in Spring 2007 he became the director of the Cardiff International Academy of Voice. O'Neill's recording career includes many solo albums and operas. He has performed on video film with

Kiri te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...

and the conductor

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...

. A generation before his fellow-Welshman Bryn Terfel, O'Neill was a regular face on British TV. He has presented two TV shows, ''Dennis O'Neill'' (1987) and ''Dennis O'Neill and Friends'' (1989), amongst other TV performances, such as the title role in '' Faust'' and Alfred in '' Die Fledermaus''. In 2006 O'Neill performed as Eleazar in ''

La Juive ''La Juive'' () (''The Jewess'') is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra, Paris, on 23 February 1835. Composition history ''La Juive'' was one of t ...

'' (The Jewess) in a Royal Opera concert in the

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

concert hall, London. It was his 43rd visit to the Royal Opera House. In 2000 he was appointed a CBE.

References

General references

* John Warrack and Ewan West, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', Oxford University Press, 1996

Inline citations

External links

Official Website of Dennis O'Neill
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Dennis 1948 births Living people Welsh people of Irish descent Welsh operatic tenors Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Gowerton Grammar School Musicians from Swansea 20th-century Welsh male opera singers 21st-century Welsh male opera singers