Catchphrase catches on, again

Congratulate yourselves, cher public, as another parterre turn of phrase has entered the general lexicon.

Today in the LA Times, David Ng uses the term “rags-and-rocks” to refer to “traditional” productions of Wagner’s Ring — a term La Cieca has popularized after hearing it circa 1990 from a fellow opera aficionado in reference to the Met’s then-new but already outdated Otto Schenk extravaganza.

You may note that the date of this ur-usage was so long ago it actually predates parterre box, which is to say that on a timeline it would be approximately coeval with flappers and the Lascaux cave paintings. And, sure enough, that beloved Schenk production indeed did at times very much resemble a bevy of bedraggled Charleston dancers huddling in a dank cavern. But surely that’s just coincidence.

Anyway, what La Cieca found particularly amusing about Mr. Ng’s little screed is the fact that he interviewed — as a representative of the radical fringe of extreme Regie — the “international stage director” Francesca Zambello. Surely it will come as no surprise to the cher public that the indefatigable régisseuse was able to pry a few minutes of time away from her insanely busy schedule — toiling simultaneously on productions of Luisa Miller, Porgy and Bess, Agnese di Hohenstaufen, Panama Hattie, Médée and The Czarevna’s Slingbacks! — when she heard of an opportunity to get her name in the paper.