Paul Plishka, an American singer who are praised for his sonore, liquid bassons and almost perfect dictation during a career in the metropolitan opera who spanned half a century, died in Wilmington on Monday, he was 83.
His death was confirmed by his wife, Sharon Thomas, who quoted or specified no cause where he died in Wilmington.
Known for a disciplined approach to choosing roles and a great deal of care for the development of his voice, Mr. Plishka was one of the most productive solo singers at the with where he appeared in 88 roles over 1,672 versions.
“I think the secret of my lifespan had the good feeling to reject the repertoire that was not good for my voice at that time,” he said in an interview for this death notice in 2023.
Early in his career he preferred Buffo, or comic strip, especially in operas by Verdi. “My voice was more of the Basso Cantante – with a lyrical kind of sound – no voice of a villain,” he said.
But as his voice changed, Mr. Plishka accepted more dramatic roles, including the title one in Mussorgsky's 'Boris Godunov', as Philip II of Spain in Verdi's 'Don Carlos' and as Mephistopheles in Gounod's 'Faust' – all stellar performance.
In his career, he again embraced Buffo Rolls and mainly ostrained ground for his interpretation of the aging Cavalier in Verdi's “Falstaff”.
“For me it has put together everything – Singing, acting, acting and a character to which I was so attached that I missed him between performances,” Mr. Plishka remembered.
Some singers approach a new role by first investigating that character – but not Mr. Plishka. “I always went for the singing, because I wanted to be safe with every note I had to sing,” he said in the 2023 interview. “If you first go to the character, you finish to do ugly things on your throat . “
One of his few regret was not enough chances to play one of his favorite characters, the title role in Mozart's 'The marriage of Figaro'. He also complained that he was never offered the title role in Mozart's “Don Giovanni” – a small one that he attributed to his strong physique.
“During most of my career I weighed between 240 and 300 pounds,” he said. “And I don't think there are a lot of Don Giovannis who look like this.”
When Mr. Plishka retired at 71, his voice was still robust and able to hit high notes and the low expected of a bass. “My hearing became a problem and was the main reason why I stopped singing,” he said.
Paul Plishka was born on August 28, 1941 in Old Forge, a former community -carved community in the northeast of Pennsylvania, where his grandparents, immigrants from Ukraine, worked in the mines and factories. His father, Peter, was an employee of the effects. His mother, Helen (Patrician) Plishka, was a seamstress in a dress factory. He had a younger brother, Peter.
The family moved to Paterson, NJ, where Paul played in the choir of high school. After singing the role of Jud Fry in “Oklahoma!” He was invited to become a member of the Paterson Lyric Opera Theater. The founder and director, Armen Boyajian, became the Mr. Plishka's voting teacher during his career.
Mr. Plishka studied as voice major at nearby Montclair State University, where he met Judith Ann Colgan. They got married and had three sons.
Mrs. Plishka and Mr. Boyajian both advised Mr. Plishka on his performances. “They were the two people who knew my voice even better than me,” he said. “Judith was a passionate opera and attended almost all my performances.”
Mr. Plishka stopped from the university after two years and drove a truck for an ice cream company while he continued to sing with the Paterson Company.
At the age of 23 he auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera and toured with his national company. When the company folded three years later, he was invited to participate in the with in New York.
He did an audition for Rudolf Bing, the old autocratic manager of the Met who offered him Buffo roles. But Mr. Plishka agreed to only accept the work if he was also allowed to play dramatic roles occasionally. “I don't know how I found the courage to stand on,” he said.
He made his debut in 1967, as the monk in Ponchielli's 'La Gioconda'. In the next three years he played around 30 other roles, mainly Buffo's, including the Lawyerly Doctor Bartolo in “The Marriage of Figaro” and the bumbling brother Melitone in Verdi's “La Forza del Destino”.
But in 1970 the stated had decided that his voice had become more suitable for dramatic roles. He was soon asked to portray main characters, such as Philip in “Don Carlos” and the Aalmoezenier and Tutor Raimondo in Donizetti's “Lucia di Lammermoor”.
Out of concern about his voice, Mr. Plishka refused to sing roles for many years such as Boris Godunov, the delusions, or Scarpia, the villain of the police, in Puccinis 'Tosca'.
“Both characters have a lot of tension and violence in their voice,” he explained, “and when you are a young singer, you can't control those emotions and eventually scream and hurt your voice.” He never sang Scarpia, but he eventually debuted as Boris Godunov at the with in 1974.
Mr. Plishka had no trouble accepting “Graybeard” parts-such as Raimondo in “Lucia di Lammermoor”, King Marke in Wagner's “Tristan und Isolde” and the traveling patent-medicine peddler Dulcamara in Donizettis “L'Elisir” As a Amany “- that other singers can reject for fear of being a typecast in secondary roles. “Many basses just want to sing the title roles – Figaro, Don Giovanni, Boris,” he said.
Mr. Plishka himself flourished on a steady mix of secondary and main roles. Even early in his career at the Met was chosen for his distinctive performance as the devil in Gounod's 'Faust'.
'Mr. The Mephistopheles of Plishka was a stricter, clearly more malignant character than is usually seen, “wrote the critic Donal Henahan of the DailyExpertNews in one review, in 1976,” and caused a few cold shivers with his realistic eruptions of frustrated anger . “
Looking back on his long years at the with, rated Mr. Plishka Falstaff, whom he started to perform in 1992, as his favorite and best -rendering role.
Critics agreed. 'Mr. Plishka gave the role an almost moving human quality, ”wrote Edward Rothstein in the Times in assessing a 1992 performance at the Met. “He was almost seductive of himself.”
Offstage has Mr. Plishka endured a lot of sorrow. In 1984 his younger brother, Dr. Peter Plishka, head of the children's services in the child-running child psychiatric center in New York, found dead by a self-laid knife wound in his Bronx apartment.
Mr. Plishka's wife, Judith, died in 2004. He then married Mrs. Thomas, a former director of the Resident at the Met. The three sons of Mr. Plishka, Paul Jr., Nicolai and Jeffrey, died too. (In 1991, Jeffrey was accused of the rape and murder of Laura Ronning, a young camp consultant in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, but he was acquitted of the crimes in 2010.)
In addition to his wife, Mr. Plishka is survived by his daughter -in -law, Fatima Plishka, and a granddaughter.
Mr. Plishka officially withdrew from the Metropolitan Opera after playing the Sacristan in “Tosca” on January 28, 2012. But he was invited again for 15 after retirement performances such as Benoît and Alcindoro in Puccini's “La Bohème” in the 2016-2017 season.
Mr. Plishka often stated that he never wanted to be a tenor, the usual male star of the stage.
“The role for a scope is usually one -dimensional,” he said. “He's in love with the girl – and that's it. The characters are much more complex with a bass. “
Ash Wu contributed reporting.
