Frank Guarrera, baritone at Met

The longtime Metropolitan Opera baritone Frank Guarrera, 83, a native of South Philadelphia whose love of singing began from hearing recordings at the Victor Café on Dickinson Street, died Friday after a brief illness at his home in Bellmawr, Camden County, according to a family friend, Angela G. Devita.

During his 28 years - 1948 to 1976 - as a member of the Met, Mr. Guarrera sang 680 performances of 35 roles. He sang Escamillo in

Carmen

85 times and Guglielmo in

Cosi fan tutte

29 times - more than any other Met baritone. Featured on several complete-opera compact discs, he was part of Arturo Toscanini's ensemble in Verdi's

Falstaff

, singing the role of Ford in what is widely considered one of the great opera recordings of all time.

He went on to teach at the University of Washington in Seattle from 1980 to 1990, then moved back to the Philadelphia area with his wife, Adelina, who died in 2000.

His career was the opposite of that of his South Philadelphia contemporary, Mario Lanza, though both had spectacular breakthroughs early on. Mr. Guarrera, having enjoyed promising early years singing for the Philadelphia Pops Orchestra and Matinee Musical Club, resumed his Curtis Institute of Music education after two-plus years in the Navy, and only weeks after graduation won a first prize in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air.

Before the broadcast was over, he received a phone call from Toscanini, inviting him to make his La Scala debut the following summer. In December 1948, he debuted at the Met as Escamillo and was described by Cecil Smith in Musical America as "possessed of a resonant and well-focused voice and an easy stage manner."

In contrast to Lanza, who went on to radio and film stardom and quick burnout, Mr. Guarrera became a model of vocal longevity as a Met stalwart, centering his schedule on the Met with occasional visits to Cincinnati, Santa Fe, N.M., and Philadelphia. His repertoire was huge, sometimes more than one role in a single opera - Silvio and Tonio in

I Pagliacci,

Don Alfonso and Guglielmo in

Cosi

.

In a mural of Mr. Guarrera at Broad and Tasker Streets, painted in 2003, he is seen in costume as the

Carmen

bullfighter as well as in the title role in

The Barber of Seville

, another of his specialties.

Mr. Guarrera is survived by his son, Dennis; his daughter, Valerie Bisquert; and two grandchildren. A viewing will be from 9 to 11 a.m. today at Mahaffey-Milano Funeral Home, 11 E. Kings Highway, Mount Ephraim, followed by a Funeral Mass at noon at Mary, Mother of the Church Roman Catholic Church, Curtis and Spruce Avenues, Bellmawr.