By Richard Fairman [Financial Times, 5 April 2006]
The problem with Offenbach on this side of the Channel is that his comedy tends to translate with all the freshness of a limp croissant or a flat champagne. So it was ingenious of English National Opera to import La Belle HÈlËne direct from Paris, where Laurent Pellyís production was a hit at the ThÈ‚tre du Ch‚telet in 2000.