Great Operatic Arias - Dennis O'Neill 2
CHAN 3105
Leoncavallo
1 Pagliacci Canio's Aria 'Go on stage..' - 'Put on your costume'
Ponchielli
2 La Gioconda Enzo's Aria 'Heaven and sea!'
Verdi
3 Aida Radames' Recitative & Aria 'I pray that I be chosen' - 'Goddess Aida'
Verdi
4 Il trovatore Aria & Cabaletta 'When holy church has blessed...' with Sharon Sweet, soprano, Marc Le Brocq, tenor and Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Verdi
5 Attila Trio of Odabella, Foresto & Ezio 'Foresto, my soul belongs to you' with Janice Watson, soprano & Alan Opie, baritone
6 (Donizetti's) Salvi's The Duke of Alba Marcello's Recitative & Aria 'Here, unobserved in this chapel'
Giordano
7 Andrea Chenier Chenier's Aria 'One day, gazing at the splendour of Heav'n's blue distance'
8 Chenier's Improvviso 'Just like a day in May time'
Verdi
9 Otello Otello & Iago's Duet 'Ah! Would that God had given him...' with Alan Opie, baritone
10 Otello's Death
Puccini
11 Tosca Cavaradossi's Recitative & Aria 'Give me my palette!' - 'How strange a thing is beauty' with Andrew Shore, baritone
Verdi
12 The Girl of the Golden West Johnson's Aria 'Let her believe that I have gained my freedom'
Mascagni
13 Cavalleria rusticana Turiddu's Drinking Song 'My friends, don't go away'
with Diana Montague, mezzo-soprano & Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
14 Finale 'Mamma, mamma, this wine...' with Nelly Miricioiu, soprano, Diana Montague, mezzo-soprano, Elizabeth Bainbridge, contralto & Geoffrey Mitchell Choir

Bonus tracks
Rossini
15 Armida Trio of Ronaldo, Carlo & Ubaldo 'I lost the will to action'
with tenors Bruce Ford & Barry Banks (PMF Scholar)
Puccini
16 La bohème Rodolfo's Aria 'Your tiny hand is frozen'

London Philharmonic Orchestra - tracks 1, 2, 4-10 & 12-15
Philharmonia Orchestra - tracks 3, 11 & 16 David Parry - conductor

Recorded in Blackheath Halls, London 7-10 August 1997 - Track 1, 3-7 March 2003 - Tracks 2, 5-10, 12 &15, 23-28 April 2001 - Track 3, 16-20 December 1999 - Track 4, 25-27 & 29-30 August 1995 - Track 11, 3-5 August 1997 - Tracks 13 & 14, 3-7 September 1997 - Track 16
Producer - Brian Couzens, Sound engineers - Jonathan Cooper - tracks 2, 5-10, 12 & 15
Ralph Couzens - tracks 3, 4, 11 & 16; Ben Connellan - tracks 1, 13 & 14
Gramophone


'Manrico, Radamès, Chénier and Otello himself are all here, in true heroic mode. Manrico rallies his forces with a confident top C, Radamès reacts to the prospects of military promotion with manly zest, Chénier declaims fiercely against the sufferings of the poor, and Otello calls aloud for blood... (Dennis O'Neill) is one of the few tenors who in 'Celeste Aida' can not only take the final B flat softly as written but have the imagination to see that the melody's reprise calls also for the gentlest of tones. His Otello, too, is admirable: incisive in the Oath duet, warm and noble in the Death scene.'

International Record Review

'One of O’Neill’s best parts on stage, for me, was Foresto in Verdi's Attila, from which comes a splendid trio linking the tenor with Opie again and with Janice Watson, all three of whom sing fervidly.'