Neal made his international debut as Pizarro in Beethoven's Fidelio at the Sydney Opera House in 2002, returning to sing Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen in 2005.
[3] His Wagner roles there have included Wotan in Das Rheingold from 2017[4] and in Die Walküre from 2018[5][6][7] and Wanderer in Siegfried, in a Ring production directed by Dietrich Hilsdorf [de].
[9] Neal made his debut at the Oper Frankfurt in 2009 as Mandryka in Arabella by Richard Strauss,[10] followed by Kurwenal in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde,[11] Achilles in Schoeck's Penthesilea, directed by Hans Neuenfels,[12] the four villains in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann,[13] and Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca.
[20] Neal appeared in the title role of Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer at the Opéra National de Lyon in 2014, directed by Àlex Ollé.
[21][22] He performed the title role of Hindemith's Cardillac at Opera Vlaanderen in 2019, and a reviewer noted that he portrayed with a powerful voice the passionate and dominant artist who cannot let go of his creations.
[25] Neil appeared at the Oper Leipzig as Jack Rance in Puccini's La fanciulla del West in a production conducted by Ulf Schirmer in 2018.
[1] A reviewer of his Telramund at the Royal Opera House noted in 2022: "Simon Neal’s strong yet nuanced singing revealed desperation and frustration mingled with a deep sense of honor".