This is a collection of French lollipops which Beecham would have relished. Hickox and the City of London Sinfonia may not quite match the totally distinctive Beecham magic, but they give consistently fresh and alert readings that equally reveal love for this music. The slow movement of the Bizet Symphony for example is taken at a flowing speed, with no hint of sentimentality, yet the solo oboe of Nicholas Daniel is meltingly expressive, and the middle section brings passionate playing from the strings. In the other three movements Hickox's speeds are on the fast side, crisply brilliant and well sprung, even if a degree more relaxation would have brought out even more wit.
The Ravel in Hickox's reading is crisply classical, not at all cold but not yielding to romantic expressiveness, with dance rhythms lightly touched in. The Faure is given a refined reading and there as in the other items I rather wish that as for Nicholas Daniel in the Bizet, there were some credits for the wind soloists. The Ibert is pointed and vigorous, and if at times a more uninhibitedly vulgar approach might more completely have evoked the fun of the farce which originally inspired this music, Labiche's Italian straw hat, the police whistles in the finale irresistibly have you thinking of a silent-film chase—as they should. The recording made in London's Henry Wood Hall is both clean and spacious to back up an exceptionally attractive collection of French music.'