Paul Plishka, whose Metropolitan Opera career spanned 51 years, dies at age 83

Paul Plishka, a powerful bass with a ready smile and hearty laugh who sang 1,672 performances at the Metropolitan Opera over 51 years, has died. He was 83.

Plishka died Monday at a hospice in Wilmington, North Carolina, his wife, Sharon Thomas, said Wednesday.

His Met career spanned generations, from a debut as the Monk alongside Renata Tebaldi, Sherrill Milnes and Rosalind Elias in Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda” on Sept. 21, 1967, to his final appearance in Puccini’s “La Bohème” on March 10, 2018.

“He was a beloved character at the Met,” company general manager Peter Gelb said. “He is one of the major artists in the Met's history, I would say, and with an interesting arc to his career. To sort of toil in medium-size roles and small roles for years and then suddenly become a major starring presence, I can't think of any other singer who had a career arc like that."

Plishka recalled his debut during a 2012 interview with The Associated Press.

“These were idols. They were all gods for me,” he said. “The thing I remember is my costume. I remember under my arms, I was so nervous the perspiration came flowing out like a fire hydrant.”

He sang 88 roles at the Met, and his performance total ranks ninth in the company’s history. While many were as a comprimario, a supporting part surrounding the stars, he sang all three bass roles in Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov,” Philip II in Verdi’s “Don Carlo” and for his 25th anniversary with the company the title role in Verdi’s ”‘Falstaff.”

“As great as ‘Don Carlo’ was, the ‘Falstaff’ really leaves everything in the dust because of the personality of the character and the music. For me, that was the top of the hill,” he said. “I love what I’ve done over the years. I sort of jokingly say it beats working for a living.”

Born Aug. 28, 1941, Plishka grew up in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, and moved with his family to Paterson, New Jersey,. when he was 16. He attended Eastside High School and was directed toward opera by a teacher after he performed Jud Fry in “Oklahoma!” Plishka majored in music at Montclair State College and made his opera debut at the Paterson Lyric Opera Theater.

After singing with the Met’s national touring company, he debuted in that 1967 performance. In 1971, he was the Sacristan in Puccini’s “Tosca” on the night conductor James Levine made his Met debut.

Plishka said that during rehearsals for those 1971 performances, baritone Peter Glossop pointed to the inexperienced singer and said sarcastically: “That’s a Sacristan?” By 2012, Plishka said a colleague praised him in rehearsal for making the small role memorable, saying “Now that’s a Sacristan!”

“It only took 40 years to grow into the part,” Plishka said with a laugh.

He sang with other companies, most notably Milan's Teatro alla Scala, London's Royal Opera and the New York City Opera, and sang the Grand Inquisitor in “Don Carlo” at the 1988 Salzburg Festival. But the vast majority of his career was at the Met. He announced his retirement in 2012, but the Met persuaded him to return for 30 additional performances as the landlord Benoit and Musetta's admirer Alcindoro in “La Bohème” from 2016 to 2018.

Plishka's first wife, the former Judith Colgan, died in 2004, and they had three sons who all predeceased him: Paul Jr., Jeffrey and Nikolai.

Jeffrey was charged in 2009 in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, with the 1991 killing of a 24-year-old camp counselor near a Poconos waterfall. He was acquitted the following year.

In 1984, Plishka’s 33-year-old brother, Dr. Peter Plishka, was found dead in his Bronx apartment from what police said appeared to be a self-inflicted stab wound.

Plishka married Thomas, a Met staff stage director, on an off day at the opera house in 2005. Thomas said that in retirement he became an avid photographer of birds.