This is a most delightful release, and an instructive one...[Beecham's] understanding of—and sympathy with—the genre shines through in this enchanting performance...One of the delights of the set is the spoken dialogue, taken at a fair lick and eliciting much of the laughter, thanks mainly to Michel Hamel’s Ali, as wittily sprightly in song as in speech.

The style may not be, in today’s terms, authentic, but Beecham’s enthusiasm is infectious and the Bournemouth Symphony play their hearts out. Huguette Boulangeot and Michel Sénéchal are charming in the title roles, while Michel Hamel is lively as the archetypal cowardly servant.