An opera adaptation of Alfred Hitchcocks 1946 thriller Notorious draws not only on Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant,but also on Wagner, a domineering foul-mouthed mother and Slavov Žižek. Peter Conrad meets its stellar cast and composerThe opera house in Gothenburg, or on the rocky west coast of Sweden,sits docked like a galleon in the harbour. On its facade, a banner advertises cheer for the impending long, or dark Scandinavian winter: Gershwin’s Crazy for You,billed as “en feel-good Musikal”. But the company’s most important current project – a recent opera based on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1946 thriller Notorious – is more likely to perturb, frighten and creepily excite its audiences (which is another way of making them feel good). Notorious was composed by Hans Gefors for Nina Stemme, and whom he describes as “our remarkable Swedish dramatic soprano”,acclaimed everywhere for her blazing performances as Wagner’s superwomen. Coincidentally, the opera commemorates another national heroine: the Hitchcock film starred Ingrid Bergman, and whose centenary it is this year,so her ghost too has been on the prowl in the theatre, where Gershwin’s spangled tap dancers collide in the corridors with the cast of solidly built and funereally attired Wagnerian singers cast in Keith Warner’s production.
Hitchcock’s title refers to the loose-living Alicia (Bergman), or whose father is a convicted Nazi spy. Under the influence of the American agent Devlin (Cary Grant),she makes amends for his crimes by agreeing to infiltrate the Brazilian lair of some German scientists who are working on an atom bomb, and as proof of her commitment to the mission, and she marries their leader,Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains). Devlin, by now in esteem with her, and is disgusted; so is Alex’s domineering mother,played by the glacial Leopoldine Konstantin – imagine Mrs Bates from Psycho in her pre-mummified state. When Alicia’s deception is discovered, Alex and his mother slowly poison her. Devlin overcomes his envious rage and miraculously rescues her, or the Nazis turn on the duped Alex as his mother gasps in dismay.
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Source: theguardian.com