Divas like this inspire awe. In Hanson's case, we get a really excellent, thoughtful, superbly vocalized performance..
David Gregson - OPERA WEST
Hanson made a powerful, revengeful, but also understandable Medea
Robert Machray - BC Culture
The show belonged to Suzan Hanson as Medea, whose gleaming soprano was matched by the intensity of her dramatic portrayal and her skill at pantomime.
Jim Ruggirello - GAZETTE.COM
Suzan Hanson, who a few years back was the company’s Brunnhilde in Wagner’s "Ring", was the potent and powerful star of Cherubini’s work, matching vocal near-perfection with a performance that was both emotionally draining and perfectly on pitch, as a woman who is driven to madness by her husband Jason’s abandonment of her for a new, princely wife.
Hanson contributed to this production more than just her vocal and physical presence. She translated the French original and produced the version LBO used Saturday night, blending the original play by Euripides with the libretto by Francois Benoit Hoffman into a one-act 100-minute searing drama of love, abandonment and murder.
In Hanson’s final scene, covered with blood, she is as mad as Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti’s heroine of 40 years later, deeply affecting, even frightening.
John Farell - Press-Telegram
Singing with effortless intensity and carefully gauged dramatic urgency, Hanson dominated the production. Her vibrant and nuanced performance revealed a Medea who was much more a recognizably conflicted woman than a furious and heedless force of Nature.
Michael Van Duzer - Stage Happenings
But the heavy lifting in the show was done by Suzan Hanson in the title role. She spends virtually all of the production atop her perch in the center of the set and rightly maintains herself as the central focus. This is a challenging part favored by legendary sopranos from Callas to Gwyneth Jones. Hanson gave a strong and very committed performance that was great fun to watch. She projected her character's rage and heartbreak beautifully throughout.
- OUTWEST ARTS
Hanson treats Medea more sympathetically, a schizophrenic for whom a psychopharmacologist might be summoned. But what more chilling way to witness her lose her mind than through her richly forceful singing directly in your face.
Mark Swed - LA TIMES
Suzan Hanson’s Medea is a tour-de-force exerting discipline and focus, demonstrating the downward spiral. Her singing is blistering, her enunciation and acting are exceptional.
Christie Grimstad - ConcertoNet