Composers: Beethoven, Schumann, Strauss, Wagner
Compositions: Songs and arias
Performers: Simon O’Neill t, Terence Dennis p
Catalogue Number: Decca 4817865

Fritz Wunderlich looms large for tenors who venture into lieder, and so it is for New Zealander Simon O’Neill. His debut release on the Decca label is a tribute of sorts to Wunderlich’s 1963 recording of An die ferne Geliebte and various Strauss songs, both of which appear here alongside Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and selections from Schumann’s Myrthen.

This decision inevitably invites comparison, but O’Neill makes a fine...