At the opening performance May 12 she was matched in the strong casting of this revival by the powerful Kostelnicka of Rosalind Plowright, a stepmother who seemed to be not much older than Jenufa;
David Stevens – Musical America – 20th May 2003

It is the appearance of Rosalind Plowright's stark, black-clad Kostelnicka, the devout foster-mother who damns herself by killing Jenufa's child, that makes this an unforgettable evening. It's not often you see drama worthy of Ibsen at the opera, and even more seldom a performance to do it justice, but Plowright is just magnificent, a magnetic, harrowing presence, every scintilla of her internal torture laid without comment before the audience.

This is grown-up human drama about the sins we commit out of love, and a stupefying. cathartic performance.
Robert Thicknesse in The Times 19th April 2004

...and the British ex-soprano, now singing as a mezzo, Rosalind Plowright, who made her debut both in the role and at the Met to a warm reception.....Wisely Plowright does not attempt to emulate Silja's scary, authoritarian portrait of the status-conscious sextoness, but presents a more human, vulnerable figure, the antithesis of the hammy, witchlike characterisations of old. You are always conscious that it is her love for Jenufa, and her terror at the public disgrace for both her step-daughter and herself that is the prime motivation for her terrible infanticide....This was a performance that promises to transform her fortunes on the world stages. She still looks wonderful, taller even than Mattila, and plays Kostelnicka as a proud handsome woman ravaged by unhappiness.
Hugh Canning - The Sunday Times

Stunning too was the Sacristine, magnificently portrayed by Rosalind Plowright. She leaves to the imagination the emotional fault-lines that lie beneath her outward appearance of self-assurance. However there were fault-lines in this wonderfully projected voice.
Jaques Doucelin - Le Figaro

Rosalind Plowright portrays a superb Kostelnicka right to her fingertips, magnificently capturing the moral inflexibility that leads to her act of violence. Her bearing is unyielding and authoritarian and her voice is both vast and arching.
Bruno Serrou - resmusica.com

....Rosalind Plowright as the implacable Sacristine is spectacularly impressive.
Jean-Luc Macia - La Croix

The great English mezzo-soprano, Rosalind Plowright, portrays the austere, unyielding and authoritarian widow with remarkable internal strength and candor as she wrestles with her conscience.
Claude Ollivier - Radio Notre Dame

Rosalind Plowright as Kostelnicka assumes the character of the child-killing stepmother and her vocal power serves only to disguise the emotional imperfections that, little-by-little, destroy her.
Michel Parouty - Les Echos

Rosalind Plowright's portrayal is the most humane of Kostelnickas and the most beset by contradictions. Her singing never lacks authority and the English mezzo's full and resounding voice copes effortlessly with the demands of this role.
Yannick Millon - Altamusica.com

On the brink of emotional crisis, the English mezzo-soprano, Rosalind Plowright, sings the role of Kostelnicka in a manner that you would swear her to be a pure Moravian.
Eric Dahan - Liberation

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