Notorious

A woman is asked to give herself to a man she despises in order to save the man she loves. She agrees. Everything after that is surveillance, jealousy, and a small object clutched in a closed hand.

That is the plot of Tosca, and it is also the plot of Notorious. Hitchcock sends Ingrid Bergman into a Rio mansion full of fugitive Nazis on the arm of Claude Rains, with Cary Grant watching from the shadows and offering her nothing but cold judgment for doing exactly what he asked. Puccini sends Tosca into Scarpia’s chambers with the same impossible bargain. Both stories turn on a piece of paper or a key — the thing that will save you if you can only keep hold of it.

Vancouver Opera’s Tosca — a new co-production with Pacific Opera Victoria, directed by Brenna Corner — runs October 24, October 29, and November 1 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Intro by Ashley Daniel Foot, Director of Engagement, Vancouver Opera

Notorious is the most elegant expression of the master’s visual style… This is the film, with Casablanca, that assures Ingrid Bergman’s immortality.

Roger Ebert

Brilliantly crafted, and deliciously entertaining.

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

The quintessential Hitchcock film.

Francois Truffaut

Co-Presented with