Role Reviews
It is always fascinating seeing a video of a production with which you are familiar, and it was great to see so much detail in close-up, particularly Rosalind Plowright's terrific, scary and stylish Madame Arvidson. Robert Hugill - Planet Hugill - June 2020
And there’s a showstopping cameo from Rosalind Plowright as Madame Arvidson, a Mystic Meg character dressed as a mash-up of Norma Desmond and Cruella de Vil. Richard Morrison - The Times - 12 June 2019
Lovely to see Rosalind Plowright there, fabulous in all senses as the fortuneteller Madame Arvidson, her voice strong in its lower reaches, her presence undeniable. Colin Clarke - Seen and Heard - 15 June 2019
Rosalind Plowright singing Madame Arvidson provided a mesmerising performance however, her tall, crane-like figure occupying the stage, and her eerie contralto voice kept me on the edge of my seat. She had already made her mark in OHP’s Queen of Spades several years before. Once seen, never forgotten! Karine Hetherington - www.artmuselondon.com - 20 June 2019
But it is supporting role that lingers in the mind. Rosalind Plowright as the fortune-teller Madame Arvidson who prophesies Gustavo’s death. In her shimmering purple gown and Philip Treacy-like hat, Plowright stalks the stage like Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard and is clearly having a splendid time. Inge Kjemtrup - The Stage - 11 June 2019
The casting is almost ideal. Rosalind Plowright’s incarnation of the oracle as Cruella de Vil, grows on me; Michael Church - The Independent - 9 June 2019
The quality runs right through the supporting cast, from Rosalind Plowright’s wonderfully malignant Madame Arvidson (pictured above), who enters like an insect designed by Norman Hartnell, complete with cigarette holder, back-lighting, quantities of black lace and an extraordinary hat Alexandra Coughlan - The Arts Desk - 11 June 2019
Rosalind Plowright’s Arvidson, got up like Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, is all frayed majesty and hauteur .... Tim Ashley - The Guardian - 11 June 2019
and Rosalind Plowright’s imperious sorceress Madame Arvidson were superbly defined, adding juice to the melodrama and singing with absolute conviction Mark Valencia - Bachtrack - 10 June 2019
Madame Arvidson is a gift of a role, you have one scene only but it is crucial dramatically and full of the sort of colour and movement that Verdi was so good at. Rosalind Plowright celebrated her 70th birthday recently (whilst singing the Countess de Coigny in Giordano's Andrea Chenier at Covent Garden), yet her performance as Madame Arvidson showed that she is capable of far more than just the odd celebrity guest appearance. She mined her strong lower register and her own striking looks (Plowright is tall and slim) to vivid effect, helped by a striking head dress and a cigarette holder. It was a wonderful performance, and vividly filled the rather boring waiting-room like space that did duty for her sinister dwelling. Robert Hugill - Planet Hugill - 10 June 2019
In Madame Arvidson’s scene Rosalind Plowright takes the stage by storm as she sports a fancy hat and dress. There are many telling details so that she has a henchman and female assistant who collect money from the crowd, and are always ready to take her cigarette holder from her when she is finished with it. Sam Smith - www.musicomh.com - 13 June 2019
Rosalind Plowright is the majestic psychic Madame Arvidson, sporting headgear that combines antennae and royal wedding fascinator with a giant malarial mosquito. Claudia Pritchard - Culture Whisper - 10 June 2019
Rosalind Plowright played the ‘psychic’ Ulrica as all the Madame Arcatis you’ve ever seen rolled into one and was unstinting in her even, full voiced declamation’ Peter Reed - Opera - Oct 2015
As Madame Arvidson, brandishing an elongated cigarette holder and sporting an astonishing geometrical fascinator, Rosalind Plowright looks like a cross between Marlene Dietrich and the Queen of the Night and she relished the medium’s outlandishness. Claire Seymour - www.operatoday.com - 11 June 2019
