"..it is just as much an allegory for adults (perhaps more so) as a story for children. It is full of symbolism and simply told...For anyone wanting to introduce a child to opera, this is the one to show them--better still, to take them to."

"The New York City Opera has scheduled eight peformances of Ms. Zambello's production in No vermber, but impatient music lovers can see it now, on a DVD from Sony Classical that preserves the enchanting Houston staging in a manner that both children and adults should enjoy."

"striking and unlike any other opera..."

"Portman's musical setting of the story...is full of warmth, wisdom and generous lyric beauty. But the production by director Francesca Zambello and designer Maria Bjornson is so thoroughly enchanting that, given the choice, there's no question that you should opt for the DVD version."

"If you and your children missed Francesca Zambello’s enchanting film of Rachel Portman’s opera The Little Prince—premiered on BBC 2 last night—I doubt you will have more than 54 weeks to wait for a repeat broadcast. Like Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, which The Little Prince recalls in even measure with Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, Portman’s opera has the hallmark of an instant Christmas classic. With delicious designs from the late Maria Bjornson—the prettiest I’ve seen since Bergman’s film of Die Zauberflote—and excellent performances from 11 year-old Joseph McManners, 15 year-old Maired Carlin, a 38-strong chorus of children, and operatic luminaries such as Willard White, The Little Prince is a significant addition to the small but crucial canon of children’s operas. Delightful."

"Deftly handled, The Little Prince makes a lovely opera. It might do well on Broadway."

"...[the music] is unfailingly graceful and civil, and acutely responsive to the mood of the stage. Like opera at its 16th – century beginnings, Ms. Portman’s work lifts words in the air and carries them along."

"...Charming as Maria Bjornson's sets and costumes are and as nicely handled as Francesca Zambello's direction is, they depend on Nicholas Wright's inventive rhyming to give them life. Lighting (by Rick Fisher) becomes as important as Rachel Portman's music. It is hard to ssay whose opera this is; it is perhaps collective: modest parts exceeded by their sum."

"Ms. Bjornson's stage pictures, nearly finished before her death in December, create fantasy through strong color."

"Somebody forgot to tell Boston Lyric Opera, the Wang Center and the opera companies around the country who co-produced ``The Little Prince'' the do's and don'ts of creating a new opera. How else to explain the joyous effect it made at its East Coast premiere at the Shubert Theatre last night? It was obvious that nobody told Oscar-winning composer (for ``Emma'') Rachel Portman that music in a new opera should be as dull and ``smart''-sounding as possible. Instead of showing off everything she learned in composing school, Portman created a heartfelt musical score that heightens the action, nicely delineates the various characters, offers singers opportunities to shine and, since its premiere in Houston in 2003, has been delighting audiences."

"...[Zambello's] staging (realized here mostly by assistant director/choreographer Denni Sayers) combined perfectly with Portman's music to convey the charm, humor and depth of the classic story by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, finely adapted by playwright Nicholas Wright."

Charles Ward - June 1, 2003
Click here for entire review

"With the aid of stage director Francesca Zambello, playwright Nicholas Wright and the late designer Maria Bjørnson, [Rachel] Portman has brought The Little Prince tantalizingly close to a major operatic success."

"Zambello's staging reflected the cunning skill of a director whose work ranges from opera to television to Disneyworld."

"The music was unrelentingly appealing. Bjørnson's designs repeatedly provoked the child in the overwhelmingly adult audience..."

"Portman’s The Little Prince was unfailingly attractive--simple, communicative, touching."

"Through a moving, melodic score, Portman portrays Saint-Exupery’s characters with a delicate combination of humour and poignancy."

"...a testament to the creative team behind Houston Grand Opera's world premiere of The Little Prince that it was able to craft an enchanting opera that is both faithful to the book and satisfying to child and adult alike."

Tom Strini - March 13, 2004
Click here for entire review

The design, by the late Maria Bjornson, is a cornucopia of delight. Her circular false proscenium abounds with steps and grip bars for singers to perch on and cling to and of openings and swing-down cantilevers from which they can emerge."

"Visually, "The Little Prince" is profoundly beautiful."

"Rachel Portman's music is pretty. Portman's placid harmonies and flowing lines sit best in the choruses, where countermelodies slide over one another luxuriously."

"Long before the final curtain …most of the jewel-bedecked, black-tied opera buffs in the opening night audience for the premiere of Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince, were fumbling for hankies and brushing away tears."

"...Portman handles standard idioms with a level of skill bordering on genius."

"Judging from the extraordinary impact the piece made on opening night, it seems quite possible that The Little Prince will enter the international repertoire, permanently."

"It is Portman’s music that gives the work its heart-wrenching impact."

"...Portman orchestrates wonderfully...she also shows a magnificent command of vocal writing in her first foray into opera."

Posted on Mon, Jun. 02, 2003
Music is heart of 'Little Prince'
By Wayne Lee Gay
Star-Telegram Classical Music Critic
Star Telegram

Long before the final curtain Saturday night at Houston's Cullen Theater, most of the jewel-bedecked, black-tied opera buffs in the opening-night audience for the premiere of Rachel Portman's The Little Prince, were fumbling for hankies and brushing away tears.

Based on French philosopher-aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery's novella Le Petit Prince, the beloved international classic written in 1943, this newest addition to Houston Grand Opera's impressive list of premieres substantially enhances the company's well-established role as the world's leading presenter of new operas.

While Saint-Exupery's moving parable of self-discovery is the foundation of the opera's appeal, it is composer Portman's music that gives the work its heart-wrenching impact. She is the first woman to win an Oscar for a film score (for Emma).

In The Little Prince, she works with a stylistically conservative, film-score pallette of attractive, catchy melodies and traditional harmonies.

Although she doesn't break any new ground stylistically, Portman handles standard idioms with a level of skill bordering on genius.

It is understandable that, as a seasoned writer of film music, Portman orchestrates wonderfully, but it is surprising that she also shows a magnificent command of vocal writing in her first foray into opera.
The juvenile role of the Prince (sung by 11-year-old Nathaniel Irvin) is handled with impressive reserve so that the young voice is not overworked and always used to good advantage.

The Pilot (Teddy Tahu Rhodes), a lyric baritone, is always carefully maneuvered into the soaring melodies Portman gives him; the Rose (soprano Kristin Reiersen) and the Water (soprano Laquita Mitchell) both have gorgeous arias that inspired extended ovations on opening night.

British playwright Nicholas Wright creates a delicate, rhymed version of the story, aimed at the key line that states the theme of both book and opera: "The heart sees far more clearly than the eyes."
Director Francesca Zambello, who has been involved with the project from its initial stages, presented a gently paced, whimsical concept, visually realized by designer Maria Bjornson, who died in December.

Patrick Summers, who has become an experienced hand at premiering operas in Houston, conducted with a perfect balance of taste and sentiment.

Judging from the extraordinary impact the piece made on opening night, it seems quite possible that The Little Prince will enter the international repertoire, permanently.

back to top

June 2, 2003, 10:47AM
HGO's 'Prince' proves charming
By CHARLES WARD
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

In its latest world premiere -- the 27th -- Houston Grand Opera has tackled one of the genre's trickiest tasks: translating into musical form a book the entire world seems to know.

The Little Prince, the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry fable about the extraordinary power of childlike innocence, has proved indestructibly popular since the French pilot/author published it in 1943, the year before he disappeared on a reconnaissance mission during World War II. It's been translated into more than 140 languages plus many more dialects.
When Academy Award-winning composer Rachel Portman set out to write her first opera, she too fell under the spell of the little boy who has come to earth from a small planet so he can find a way to save it from ravenous baobab trees and protect the flower he loves.

With the aid of stage director Francesca Zambello, playwright Nicholas Wright and the late designer Maria Bjornson, Portman has brought The Little Prince tantalizingly close to a major operatic success.
At the premiere Saturday in the Wortham Theater Center's Cullen Theater, Portman's The Little Prince was unfailingly attractive -- simple, communicative, touching.

The music was unrelentingly appealing. Bjornson's designs repeatedly provoked the child in the overwhelmingly adult audience, which chuckled at her whimsical treatment of the volcanoes and baobobs on the Prince's tiny star, and the hunters, Fox, Snake and other characters he meets on his journey through the solar system. Zambello's staging reflected the cunning skill of a director whose work ranges from opera to television to Disneyworld.
The great strength of Portman's work lay in Wright's fabulous libretto. While faithfully following the outline of the original, leisurely flowing story, he skillfully transformed it into taut scenes and striking verse.

That was a major achievement, for the best operas overwhelmingly are blood-and-guts dramas or gentle comedies, not philosophical musings like The Little Prince. For every idealistic Magic Flute by Mozart, there are dozens of turbulent tales like Verdi's La Traviata.

Wright's work clearly inspired Portman. In scene after scene she wrote compelling vocal music -- arias for the Pilot, the Little Prince and other characters; smoothly contoured ensembles for the children's chorus portraying the birds that guided the prince from planet to planet; and stirring ensembles to close each of the two acts.

Wright and Portman found the right balance between sentiment and seriousness. The scene in which the Fox so subtly teaches the Little Prince about love and friendship would have been heart-wrenching had it dealt with the subject in adult ways. Instead it gently probed, giving the listener space to react.

Portman's music had all the craftsmanship and beauty of her best film scores -- she won an Oscar for her music for Emma -- but at times it suffered from the inherent deference of film music. When the beautifully orchestrated score should have grabbed and shaken the listener, it remained fundamentally inoffensive.

That was most noticeable in orchestral interludes accompanying moments like the sunset the Little Prince watches early in Act 1. Portman wanted the orchestra -- a chamber ensemble of 26 players -- to carry the drama. Unfortunately, her tightly restrained style and her lack of experience in writing strongly profiled concert music led to insipid Hollywood filler.

In general, the opera score needed a larger palette of harmonies. It's hard to make points during an hour and 45 minutes of music when the harmonic language is not much more complicated than that of simple pop music. Augmented triads can shock only so many times!

Under the guidance of HGO music director Patrick Summers, the performances were excellent top to bottom.
The tall, strapping New Zealand-born baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes gave a vocally rich and emotionally sympathetic portrayal of the Pilot, the man who has to deal with the unexpected and upending utterances of the child.

Minnesota boy soprano Nathaniel Irvin, who was understandably miked for the show, was an utter professional in the demanding staging, which even had him flying about while singing.

Eight present and past members of the Houston Opera Studio sparkled in solo and ensemble roles. Tenor Jon Kolbet was coolly elegant as the Snake, who promises to help the Little Prince find his way back home. Mezzo-soprano Marie Lenormand was seductively gentle as the Fox.

Equally impressive was the singing of the Children's Chorus prepared by Karen Reeves and the playing of the HGO Orchestra.

back to top

Opera: The Little Prince
By Stacey Kors
Financial Times
Published: June 2 2003 18:38 | Last Updated: June 2 2003 18:38

It is always difficult to satisfy audience expectations when adapting a beloved work of literature for the stage, especially the musical stage, but Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince presents more formidable challenges than most. This simple but profound tale of a young boy who learns what’s truly important in life is an adult morality play couched in a children’s fairytale, containing more philosophy than plot. Further complicating matters are Saint-Exupery’s illustrations, which are so recognisable that they appear on everything from postcards to coffee mugs.

It’s therefore a testament to the creative team behind Houston Grand Opera’s world premiere of The Little Prince that, despite these obstacles, they were able to craft an enchanting opera that is both faithful to the book and satisfying to child and adult alike. An intimate chamber work, The Little Prince is the first opera by Oscar-winning film composer Rachel Portman. Through a moving, melodic score, Portman portrays Saint-Exupery’s characters with a delicate combination of humour and poignancy. Admittedly her music is rarely harmonically complex, and is sometimes even prosaic; but this somehow pairs well with Saint-Exupery’s earnest fable.

British playwright Nicholas Wright’s libretto is a respectful treatment of the original text, which cuts back on the philosophical discussion and focuses more upon the characters that the young Prince meets in his travels. Wright’s addition of a "Greek chorus" of children lends cohesiveness to these vignettes without compromising the storyline. Although most of The Little Prince’s drama is of an internal nature, director Francesca Zambello presents a captivating staging that emphasizes Portman’s musical characterisations. These are furthered by the creative and colourful sets and costumes of the late Maria Bjørnson, who died while working on the opera. From the bouncing Baobob trees to the Little Prince taking flight on a kite of origami cranes, Bjørnson’s design team does a marvelous job of realising her vision, which pays loving homage to Saint-Exupery’s illustrations.

It took the HGO some time to find their Prince; but boy soprano Nathaniel Irvin was worth the wait. With his light voice, pale complexion, and faraway gaze, Irvin conveyed just the right amount of otherworldliness for the mysterious and pensive young prince, who wonders why grown-ups stray so far from the heart. In his HGO debut, New Zealander Teddy Tahu Rhodes gave an affecting performance as The Pilot whom the Prince befriends, his bold, lustrous baritone and rugged good looks a striking contrast to the Prince’s fragile waifishness. All of the opera’s secondary characters were well performed, the standout being French mezzo-soprano Marie Lenormand as The Fox. Music Director Patrick Summers led the chamber-sized orchestra in a tight, well-executed performance. In some ways it would be easy for a "serious" classical music critic to dismiss The Little Prince, to accuse it of being a sappy, small-scale musical with a soundtrack-style score that isn’t important enough to stand on its own. To do so, however, would be to sadly miss the point of this touching work altogetherleaving one no better off than those other silly grown-ups the Little Prince fails to understand.

back to top

Prince' production gets royal treatment
By T.J. MedrekBos
Thursday, February 17, 2005, Boston Herald

Somebody forgot to tell Boston Lyric Opera, the Wang Center and the opera companies around the country who co-produced ``The Little Prince'' the do's and don'ts of creating a new opera. How else to explain the joyous effect it made at its East Coast premiere at the Shubert Theatre last night?

It was obvious that nobody told Oscar-winning composer (for ``Emma'') Rachel Portman that music in a new opera should be as dull and ``smart''-sounding as possible. Instead of showing off everything she learned in composing school, Portman created a heartfelt musical score that heightens the action, nicely delineates the various characters, offers singers opportunities to shine and, since its premiere in Houston in 2003, has been delighting audiences.
And nobody told director Francesca Zambello that a new opera should never make an emotional connection with an audience. Indeed her staging (realized here mostly by assistant director/choreographer Denni Sayers) combined perfectly with Portman's music to convey the charm, humor and depth of the classic story by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, finely adapted by playwright Nicholas Wright.

That story concerns a Pilot (baritone Keith Phares, dashing in both voice and looks) who crash-lands in the Sahara Desert. There he's confronted by hot sun, little water - and a small boy with a shock of unruly, wheat-colored hair: the Little Prince (boy soprano and remarkable actor Jeffrey Walter).
Both Pilot and Prince - an extra-terrestrial in search of protection for his vain but beautiful Rose (charming soprano Lauri Choi Stuart) back home - are on journeys of discovery concerning the nature of existence and the meaning of love. Yes, it sounds pretentious, but it's not, as generations of school children have discovered. It's the grown-ups who, the Little Prince would say, just don't get it.

On his journey from Asteroid B-612, the Little Prince encounters a host of mostly comic characters who strut their stuff vaudeville-style and are much helped by the ingenious unit set and fanciful costumes by the celebrated designer of ``Phantom of the Opera,'' Maria Bjornson, in one of her last efforts before her death.
Certainly it's been a long time since I've seen anything as outrageously funny (and inspired) as singers David M. Cushing, Darren T. Anderson, Christopher Hutton and David Kravitz costumed as a quartet of the Little Prince's dreaded baobab trees. They looked like hybrids of asparagus and broccoli, something that vegetable-shy kids might have nightmares about: exactly right.

Others in the uniformly excellent cast included Claudia Huckle, Joshua Kohl and Patrice Tiedemann. The children's chorus, directed by Johanna Hill Simpson, was terrific. And no small credit for last night's success must go to conductor Stephen Lord, the Lyric's music director, who led this music as if he believed in every note. Certainly he convinced us to do just that.

Boston Lyric Opera's ``The Little Prince,'' conducted by Stephen Lord, at the Shubert Theatre runs through Feb. 27

back to top