Dame Isoleen Heather Begg DNZM OBE (1 December 1932 – 12 May 2009)[1] was a New Zealand-born operatic mezzo-soprano who spent most of her career in the United Kingdom and Australia.
She was "a versatile artist" with a "gift for comedy",[2] and became renowned as the title role in Bizet's Carmen, Amneris in Verdi's Aida and in lighter operas such as The Gondoliers.
Born in Nelson, New Zealand in 1932, Begg studied in Auckland with Sister Mary Leo and at the New South Wales State Conservatorium, during which time she won the 1955 Sydney Sun Aria contest.
[2] Her roles there included Flora in La traviata, Mary in The Flying Dutchman, Emilia in Otello, Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana, Madame Larina in Eugene Onegin, the Grandmother in Jenůfa, Marthe in Faust, Mrs Sedley in Peter Grimes, Teresa in La sonnambula, Anna in Les Troyens, and Marina Mnishek in Boris Godunov.
[2] She also appeared in Gilbert and Sullivan at the BBC Proms in 1971 and 1972, also taken part in a concert performance of Peter Grimes (Mrs Sedley) there in 1975.
Her final appearance was at the Sydney Opera House in 2006 to recreate Grandmother Buryjovka in Jenůfa (which she had sung at Covent Garden in 1972 and 1974), conducted by Richard Hickox.