Something in the composer's writing brings out the best in [Roocroft's] creamy voice and committed acting, and here she's superb as a young woman who forgives her stepmother for committing a terrible crime. Deborah Polaski, as the stepmother, sings with fierce power

Braunschweig gives us Jenufa stark and simple, the stage almost bare, the opera's emotions stripped to the bone...Nothing is allowed to deflect concentration from the central human drama. Amanda Roocroft has won laurels as Jenufa in various stage productions and comes across as a deeply sincere performer here, even if the voice is apt to turn shrill at the top...[Polaski's] very understatement is moving in its own way.

Roocroft plays a Jenufa who moves believably from innocent girl to disillusioned woman...Only very occasionally do the musical care and dramatic restraint of Polaski's Kostelnicka not go quite far enough, but rather that than over-the-top histrionics...Schukoff exudes unmistakable sexual allure in his caddish role.

[Roocroft's] voice seems perfect for the role and she sings it superbly, as does Polaski as the Kostelnicka. Both characters come off as multi-dimensional, but Roocroft seems older than what one would expect...[Bolton]has the measure of the score and the orchestra plays very well for him. He balances the powerful sections where the timpani pound and the brass are given the lead, with the more lyrical passages

With her luminous tone and air of fragility, British soprano Amanda Roocroft has made a speciality of Janáček's downtrodden heroines and appears to best advantage here in Stéphane Braunschweig's 2009 production from Madrid. Deborah Polaski blazes conflict and conviction as her stepmother, and Nikolai Schukoff oozes testosterone as the feckless Števa.