The time had come for me to have seen six hundred operas, and now we live in a world where that happened. I've given up trying to mark these whole numbers with anything "important"--it's hard to know how to define that at this point--but hey, at least I saw one in a new language. I've searched for Greek opera in the past, but it's hard to find, and most of what you find is just operas based on Greek mythology. But this operetta--by a guy who pioneered the form in Greece, I'm told--is...one of them. I saw this here (I probably should've checked the Greek National Opera before now). I made it a priority because I misread the description and thought it was just streaming for two days, as opposed to a full month, until June fifteenth. So there's plenty of time for you to get in there if you want! It's got English subtitles'n'everything.
We've got a cheerfully blasphemous plot here: Andreas, a government functionary, is getting old and despairing: he's drowning in debt which is starting to come due, and having been honest for his whole career doesn't feel like it's worked out for him. But then: enter, Satan (to an aria which musically quotes "Le veau d'or est toujours debout"). A Lady Satan here. She offers him the usual Faustian bargain, and with nothing to lose, he accepts. She takes him to see Heaven first, but it turns out it's pretty boring: people just read the Bible and occasionally listen to angels sing hymns of praise. No food, no liquor, no movie theaters, no nothing. So when Andreas offers to take them to Hell instead, they're all in. Hell is a fun party place, with lots of food and drugs and women. Andreas, having gone ahead and embezzled some money as per Satan's advice, has cheered up considerably, and is going to continue enjoying life. Everyone else is happy in Hell. The end.
Yup. You kind of think that the other shoe is going to drop and we'll learn the terrible truth about Hell, or at least that some sort of moderation will be preached, but nope! Heaven sucks; Hell fucking rules. That is the only message here. You remember that old Chick Tract about how the dreaded Heavy Metal Music makes kids want to commit suicide by convincing them that Hell is a cool party place where all their friends will be? Well, whoever wrote that (Jack himself?) hadn't seen nothin'. I mean, obviously, it's being intentionally transgressive and isn't meant to be taken altogether seriously, but it is what it is!
Yeah, man, I liked it a lot. That plot description might make it sound as though there's more plot than their actually is. Or, it might not. But the point is, there actually isn't much; there are a lot of little episode that I skimmed over that don't really go anywhere ultimately. I'm not sure if it's an all-time classic, but the music is generally fun, sometimes hella fun, and I would definitely recommend it.
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