A film version of Rachel Portman's first opera The Little Prince was shown on BBC 2 on Saturday 27 November. Directed by Francesca Zambello, the cast includes Lesley Garrett, Aled Jones and Willard White alongside over 30 children who took part in a BBC Talent audition process. Jospeh McManners (11) sings the title role with Mairead Carlin (15) playing the Rose. Over 25,000 children applied to take part in this unique production, and the final few were selected from workshops at a residential school at Sadler's Wells last summer. To coincide with the broadcast, Sony released both CD (5187492) and DVD (2026749) editions of the production on 29 November.The piece was described the next day in The Independent on Sunday as "an instant Christmas classic [and] a significant addition to the small but crucial canon of children's operas. Delightful."
