Zdeněk Plech

Biography

The Czech bassist Zdeněk Plech is a soloist of the National Theatre Opera, where he made his debut in 2002 as the Assassin in Verdi's Macbeth.

He studied at the Brno Conservatory and the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno. After spells in Olomouc and Brno, in 2004 he joined the National Theatre in Prague, where he has performed numerous roles from the classical, modernist and contemporary opera repertoire, such as Masetto and the Commendatore (Mozart: Don Giovanni), Osmin (Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Sarastro (Mozart: Die Zauberflöte), Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Sparafucile (Verdi: Rigoletto), Daland (Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer), Gremin (Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin), King René (Tchaikovsky: Iolanta), Kecal (Smetana: The Bartered Bride), the King and the Cook (Prokofiev: Love for Three Oranges), the Peasant and Peter (Orff: Die Kluge / Der Mond), Baron Rohn (Kašlík: Krakatit) and the Canadian Forward (Smolka: Nagano).

In 2006, he debuted at the Staatsoper Berlin, portraying the King of Egypt in Verdi's Aida. Since 2006, he has been a regular guest of the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, where he has performed in productions of Verdi's Don Carlos, Berg's Wozzeck, Beethoven's Fidelio and Janáček's From the House of the Dead. During the opening of Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, he appeared in Wagner's Ring as Fasolt (Das Rheingold) and Hagen (Götterdämmerung). In 2007 and 2010, he sang at the Phoenix Opera, Arizona. He has performed at festivals in San Sebastian, Spain, and Gars am Kamp, Austria.

He has participated in recordings of the Janáček operas The Cunning Little Vixen (BBC) and The Excursions of Mr. Brouček (Deutsche Grammophon; Best Opera Album of 2009), and Dvořák's Stabat Mater (Sony Classical). In 1998, he won the International Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský Vocal Competition, and in 2002 he advanced to the final of the Ferruccio Tagliavini Vocal Competition in Graz. His performance in the Prague production of Lloyd Webber's musical Cats earned him a nomination for the 2004 Thalia Award.