Jill Gomez

Jill Carnegy, Countess of Northesk ( Gomez; 21 September 1942 – 11 August 2026) was a Trinidadian and British soprano.

Trained in London in voice and piano from the age of 13, she began her career in 1968 with the Glyndebourne Festival as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, followed by Debussy's Mélisande and Cavalli's La Calisto over the next two years. She created the roles of Flora in Tippett's The Knot Garden at the Royal Opera House in London in 1970 and of the Countess in Thea Musgrave's The Voice of Ariadne at the 1973 Aldeburgh Festival. She appeared in lyric roles at several opera houses in the UK and Europe, including a production of Mozart's Lucio Silla at the Zürich Opera directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle and conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Her 1995 creation of the lead role of the Duchess of Argyll in Powder Her Face by Thomas Adès was particularly acclaimed and its original-cast recording was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Besides opera, she recorded as a soloist in choral-symphonic works, such as Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Israel Philharmonic conducted by Georg Solti, sang cantatas by Thomas Arne with Jaap Schröder, performed song cycles with chamber ensemble by Ravel and Webern conducted by Pierre Boulez, and recorded Spanish and French songs such as Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne. An obituary in The Telegraph noted that she was "blessed with a sensuously beautiful and creamy voice". to Albert Clyde Gomez, a Spanish Trinidadian, and Denise Price Gomez (née Denham). She grew up with a younger sister, Wendy,

Education After studying at St. Joseph's Convent in Port of Spain, Trinidad, It was followed the next year by Mélisande in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande on the main stage,

In 1970 Gomez created the role of Flora in Michael Tippett's The Knot Garden at the Royal Opera House in London, directed by Peter Hall and conducted by Colin Davis. This performance garnered headlines such as "topless for Tippett". She portrayed Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare at the Oper Frankfurt, with two boa constrictors on stage who were not as sleepy as the director had promised, Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin,

In 1995, Gomez created the lead role of the scandalous Duchess of Argyll in Powder Her Face by Thomas Adès, Erik Eriksson wrote for AllMusic: "Gomez's portrayal is a tour de force, alternately opulent and unhinged. She achieves the difficult task of making a figure of ridicule into a person who evokes sympathy from the listener". She also took part in radio premieres, performing the title role of William Alwyn's Miss Julie in 1977, alongside Benjamin Luxon and Anthony Rolfe Johnson, conducted by Vilém Tauský. Alwyn was so pleased with her performance that he composed his song cycle Invocations for her.

Television and cabaret Among many television appearances, Gomez sang Nanetta and Zerlina in the BBC2 programme Master Class, with the 80-year old Carl Ebert in 1967, and in the series Music Now produced by John Drummond in 1968–69. She was then first niece in the 1969 Culshaw/Large BBC production of Peter Grimes filmed at The Maltings. In 1976, she had a programme devoted to her in which she introduced and sang a recital of songs with John Constable, soprano soloist in A Child of Our Time in April 1977 on BBC2 conducted by Colin Davis, and soloist in Britten's War Requiem from Dresden Cathedral in 1980 under Herbert Kegel. Other TV and film credits include the French film Une Femme française, and television programmes A Ladies Knight! (1987), Rattle on Britten (1985) and a BBC programme Opera in Rehearsal of the second act of Le nozze di Figaro, with Anthony Besch (1973). She gave successful recitals devoted to cabaret music, some recorded. The couple lived in Cambridgeshire.

Recordings By composer:

Adès, Thomas – Powder Her Face, Almeida Ensemble, conductor Thomas Adès. EMI Classics 7243 5 56649 2 Alwyn, William Miss Julie (title role), Philharmonia Orchestra, conductor Vilém Tauský Lyrita SRCD2218 Invocations, song cycle, John Constable, piano, CHAN 9220 Britten A Midsummer Night's Dream (Helena), City of London Sinfonia, conductor Richard Hickox. Les Illuminations, Endymion Ensemble, conductor John Whitfield. EMI Classics 95579 Canteloube – Songs of the Auvergne, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Vernon Handley. awarded a Rosette in the Penguin Guide to CDs and DVDs. EMI Eminence – CD-EMX 9500 Donizetti – Il giovedì grasso, Radio Teflis Eireann Symphony Orchestra, conductor David Atherton. Foyer Cat: 1-CF 2036: Memories Cat: HR 4482 South of the Border ... down Mexico way (The Lady in Red by Allie Wrubel; Begin the Beguine Cole Porter; Peanut Vendor Moisés Simons; Perfida Alberto Domínguez; The Carioca Vincent Youmans; Amor, Amor, Amor Gabriel Ruiz; Orchids in the moonlight Youmans; Cielito Lindo Pablo Santos; Nina from Argentina Noël Coward; Poinciana Nat Simon; La Cucaracha traditional; La Paloma Sebastián de Iradier; Flying down to Rio Youmans) The Markham and Nettle Piano Duo, National Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Barry Wordsworth, Hyperion.