By Andrew Clements [The Guardian, 24 August 2010]
In the 1990s, Philip Glass composed a trilogy of music-theatre pieces based on films by Jean Cocteau. His remarkable reworking of La Belle et la BÍte was brought to London by the composer’s own ensemble soon after the premiere, while the first and most conventional of the three, OrphÈe, was seen at the Linbury theatre five years ago. But Les Enfants Terribles, completed in 1996, has had to wait for its British premiere, impressively staged by the Volta theatre company as the last event in this year’s Grimeborn season, east London’s alternative summer opera festival.