A Hummable Treat for All Ages

portman_rachel.jpgBY FRED KIRSHNIT [NY Sun, 14 November 2005]
Apparently I am the only person of my generation who has never read Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s “The Little Prince.” I am not quite sure whether that is a good or a bad thing, but at least I am better able to judge Rachel Portman’s opera, which premiered on Saturday at the New York State Theater, on its own merits.