International opera star with talent for comedy

Dame Heather Begg, DNZM, OBE, opera singer. Died aged 76.

The New Zealand singer Dame Heather Begg, who has died in Sydney, won international acclaim as a mezzo-soprano in a career covering more than 50 years.

Her deep, rich voice was heard in the major opera houses of the world. She was a frequent singing partner to the likes of Dame Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Dame Malvina Major and Sir Donald McIntyre.

She sang in more than 100 different operatic roles in five languages, appearing on stage as a long list of aristocrats, funny spinsters, peasants, aunts, sorceresses, mothers, princesses, best friends, nuns and even a love-sick bearded lady.

Heather Begg's music training began in the orchestra of Auckland Girls' Grammar, and then the back row of Auckland's Junior Symphony Orchestra, playing the double bass.

But conductor Gordon Cole discovered she could sing - and not just sing, but with a rare mezzo sound.

Coached initially by Dame Sister Mary Leo, she was then polished into operatic style by retired European opera star Gertude Narev.

An audition with the National Opera of Australia was arranged, and Begg was hired on the spot as a soloist.

At the age of 22 she made a notable debut in the demanding role of Azucena in Il Trovatore and the company and reviewers immediately took notice that this young mezzo was first-class operatic material.

She went on to win the Sydney Sun Aria competition and the citizens of Auckland staged a big fund-raising farewell concert in the Town Hall.

London-based, she quickly caught the attention of the Carla Rosa Opera, with whom she appeared in four principal roles before being offered a place at Sadlers Wells Opera, where she became principal mezzo.

Besides her commanding appearance and authoritative voice, an unexpected gift for comedy emerged, and she made an enormous success in Gilbert and Sullivan - especially Patience (where as Lady Jane she accompanied herself on the double bass), in the BBC television special of The Gondoliers as the imperious Duchess of Plaza Toro, then hit the London headlines as a spectacular Queen of the Fairies in Iolanthe - which she sang for more than 100 performances in five different countries (including New Zealand in 1967).

The Royal Opera House Covent Garden beckoned, and Heather Begg became resident principal mezzo there and sang 40 different roles on that famous stage - most memorably on the night in 1971 when she sang Marcellina to Kiri Te Kanawa's debut performance of the Countess in Marriage of Figaro.

She described it as a "breathtaking night" which made musical history. The two New Zealanders remained firm friends for the following 38 years.

Begg repeated the Marcellina role in France, America, Australia, Austria and in the Ponelle film with Te Kanawa.

In 1976 Begg accepted "an offer she couldn't refuse" to become principal mezzo in the Australian Opera, where she made a brilliant debut as Princess Amneris in Aida.

This was followed by nearly 50 other roles. Again she portrayed both dignity (as Flora in Traviata) and infectious comedy (as Mistress Quickly in Falstaff and the frenetic Lady Allcash in Fra Diavolo - an operatic version of Hyacinth Bucket).

Besides returning for guest seasons at Covent Garden, she sang in Chicago, Vienna, San Diego, Barcelona, San Francisco, Berlin, Vancouver, Bordeaux, Brussels, Strasbourg, Singapore, the Salzburg Festival and La Scala Milan.

Although the Australian media referred to her as "a national treasure", she retained her New Zealand connection at all times and firmly corrected Who's Who when they wanted to list her as Australian.

Her return visits to New Zealand included engagements with the NZSO, the Christchurch Symphony, the Auckland APO, for TVNZ and the NZ Opera Company.

In one of her most memorable roles back in New Zealand she was dressed as a man (the Russian Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus) and looked astonishingly like Paul McCartney. Her husband John King watching in the audience remarked that it made him feel "very odd".

King died unexpectedly in 1979, and she later said that working in "the fantasy world of opera" was all that had helped her to overcome the grief and shock of his death.

Begg sang her last performance in 2006 in Jenufa at the Sydney Opera House, ending a major career covering 53 years as a distinguished soloist.

In 2000, Begg was made a Distinguished Companion of the NZ Order of Merit and was the first person to be told that although this was the equivalent of a damehood, she was not permitted to be addressed as Dame - until Helen Clark's ruling was reversed this year.

Her "redesignation" as a dame was announced just three weeks before her death on April 12 after a long illness.

She is survived by her partner Joe Diflo, an older sister living in Auckland, six nieces and a nephew.