He was a prolific composer, and among his substantial output his successes such as La fille de Madame Angot and Giroflé-Girofla were interspersed with works that failed to attract the public. A generally sympathetic profile of him in the musical press suggested that he was "making himself rather too cheap, and writing too much to be invariably fortunate"."Charles Lecocq", The Musical World, 10 December 1881, p. 797 Having had a success with La petite mariée which ran for 212 performances at the Renaissance in 1875–1876, he followed it with Kosiki, a mock-oriental piece that lasted for 75 performances in 1876.Noël and Stoullig, 1877, p. 581
