The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-28 00:00:00

A really reinarkableentertainineet—an entertainment
reniaritetle at once for its splendour an i originality
IA as the St. James's Theatre. It
given last evening at
was the first of three consecutive nights' representations.
It was fer the Benefit of the Royal Patriotic Fund, and
was performed under Royal Patronage. As to the
cha-
racter of the entertainment—that in truth requires some
few words of explanation. The performance being all
but unprecedented—what the puff advertisements are in
the habit of calling " unique," For the " Crimean
Relics," as the entertainment has been designated by its
accomplished Author —Captain F. A. Wilson, K.L
G.S.—although modestly described in the prOgramme as
merely an I lestrated Concert—was to all intents are/
purposes no more a Concert than it was a
Drama, or an Opera, or a Masque, or a Lecture,
or an Eetre-Acte, or a Vaudeville, or a Spec-
tacle, or a Divertissement.. But something
very like a melange of all these ingeniously blended
together. It combined, in fact, the charms of music,
of costume, of scenery, of acting, of singing, of decla-
mation. It appealed to the different senses, either SUCCtfi-
hively or simultaneously. .A nd it illustrated, as its title
sufficiently well intimates, all that was actually most
worthy of iiluetra,ion, in regard to the great contest re
cenrly raging on the shores of the Euxine, between the
legions of Russia, and those of the Allied Powers. Cap-
tain Wilson says himself, explicitly enough, in his Pre-
fece t) the printed libretto, as we may call it, of his Musicc-
Dramatic Entertainment, "The object of my design
•
was to comprise, in rapid sketch, a general review of
cur late Crimean carnPaigns, from the earliest scintilla-
tions of that patriotic spirit, which fired our whole nation
at the 'first signal of hostilities, and which gradually aug-
mented in proportion as the war progressed, until it at-
tained that enthusiastic intensity which even the advent
of Peace has yet sc ircely been able to extinguish."
Adding, " More particularly still did I seek in these
pages to commemorate the warlike energy and loyal de-
votion which sudden service in the field so gloriously
awoke in the breasts of a young army, and to pint in the
vivid and impressive colours of verse and music those
distinguishing traits of character and feeling which are
habitual with the British soldier and sailer when under-
going the dangers and vicissitudes of war ; aiazing at the
same time to delineate many of the most prominent
duties and details iccideatal to a camp, and all with as
much faithful adherence as possible to matter of
recorded fact and the simple truth of nature."
'This picturesque and patriotic design of his, Cap-
tein Wilson has, we are bound to say, most effec-
tively and powerfully realised. He has in it, we should
conceive, more than fulfilled his most sanguine friends'
expectations. Tue framework of his " Illustrated
Concert"—as we suppose for want of a better explana-
tory title it must still be designated—admits of being
clearly and succinctly defined as follows :—An opening
Symphony, preluding the First Part—" England"—
discovers on the rising of the curtain a Fortification.
Here " First" and " Second" Gowers (vide SliakAptre's
Henry V.") are the interlocutors : the first Gower
being a Chelsea Pensioner, and the second Gower a
Greenwich Pensioner. Their dialogue is descriptive of the
sudden and startlingalarna by which the country was roused
from the calm repose consequent upon 40 years most
uninterrupted tranquillity. Immediately afterwards,
comes " The Last Review" upon the esplanade of Buck-
ingham Palace, followed by an animated chorus "Hurrah
fur the Queen !" At the close of which is a song for the
baritone " Hark ! the Trump of War," succeeded by
an inepiritieg song chaunted by a Chelsea Pensioner
with a wooden leg and a crutch, who is led on in
marching order by a little boy to the tuck of his
toy drum ! The soldiers and the crowd mingling
their voices together, drown the din of the old vete-
ran's ditty and the clatter of the child's plaything
in a grand chorus—" Forward! March !" " Scotland"
is the next scene, and even upon the mountains w•
witness "The gathering"—the tenor carolling as a
solo, "The Lass of Balmoral," and the soprano, " Fare-
weel to the Hielends." Presto 1 we have left the pur-
pling heather for the pavement of St. James's ! An offi-
cer of the Guards here votes the tocsin a bore in a blas6
tenor solo, " Ho ! War is Proclaimed !" But a Sergeant
coming in with a bass solo, fraught with stern senti-
ment, they harmouise their views at last in a serio-
comic duet, changing from the andante to the allegro,
to the celebration of the contending charms of Lady
Pbccbe and Mary Muggeridge ! Afterwards comes the
glorification of "The Fleet"—Scene, "A Sea Port"—
Ships riding at anchor—discovered sailors and an old
Commodore. The last-mentioned a very tough old gen-
tlenin, perfectly nautical, amazingly inflammable, and
thoroughly patriotic, as an old Salt should be, sings a
bass song, beginning, " Fresh on the breeze I catch the
scent of roses !" How, say you, "the scent of roses?"
Listen awhile—
" Such as the lips of British cannon breathe;
Housed from a lull old pluck in vain reposes,
Eager to leap like cutlass from its sheath.
Home to the fleet my seaward thought returning,
Pines for the deck, hot broadsides to prepare,
Glory once more sets sailors' bosoms burning,
' Laurels' the word—and I must reap my share."
Then a sailor entering, with a bundle on the end of a
stick, carols a truer ditty, "Fresh hope fil,s cheerly."
Ending with this loyal chorus—
" Then hurra, red and blue !
Be the word,' jolly crew 1
Ind while fighting through fire and through flame,
Let us still bear in mind
Whate'er danger we find,
Victoria and Victory's the eisine."
Subsequently comes " Tne Departure "—scene " A
Railway Station"—among the crowd "Soldiers, Women,
and Children" interspersed with the "stage business,"
being a Drummer's mezzo soprano song, " The News of
War Fires"—followed by a trio and a quintette. An
Irish Farewell being succeeded by a Soldier's Chorus,
addressed to the girls they leave behind them—" Come,
Dry your Rosy Cheeks !" Next we have gracefully as
well as gratefully commemorated "The Sisters of Mercy,"
two ladies in the Nightingale uniform singing like night-
ingales successively, the first (a mezzo soprano) "0 Lethe,
Blest River !" and the second (a soprano) "O Time 1
Ruthless Time !" Another soprano song, sung by
another lady similarly equipped, is the prelude to the
tenor Bravura d la Polacece, "Hence, Froward
Care !"—the First Part of the Entertainment thus
ending with a celebration of the patriotic ardour dis-
played by the Gentlemen Volunteers ! Two other Parts
follow the First, commemorative and illustrative
(among other thing-), of "The Voyage" and "The
Landing," of " The gentry" and " The Letter," of
" The Trench" and " The Outpost," of " The Bivouac"
and " The Battle." The Third Part—and last—relating
in a humorous strain to " The Forage," in a pathetic,
strain to " The Hospital :" the whole winding up with
a Peace of Triumph at the Pacification. One of the
most characteri-tic scenes in this portion of the enter-
tainment being entitled "Sebastopol's Last Valtz"—the
said valtz ending with "A shot from an English gun—
shrieks of alarm without—French officers laughing :
exeunt." For the more effective performance of
this very navel and attractive entertainment,
Captain Wilson, author and composer, has secured
the services of a very powerful corps of artistes, together
with a Chorus, Fifty in Number, under the direction of
Mr. Smythson, aided by ex orchestra, (presided over by
Mr. Leigh Smith), including Violins, Altos, Violin-
cellos, Basses, Flutes, Oboes, Clarionets, Bassoons,
Horns, Cornets, Bugles, Fifes, Trumpets, Drums, and
Trombones ! Last evening, as we have said—the First
Night's Performance—was dedicated especially to the
Benefit of the Patriotic Fund ! This evening, Tuesday,
the 28th inst., the proceeds of the entertainment will
be for the benefit of the Fund for the Soldiers' Daughters.
To-morrow, Wednesday, the 29th inst., the Benefit
of the Nightingale Fund will be the aim and object of
the third representation. Assuredly, after what we
have said, it must be obvious to anybody, to everybody,
that it were superfluous to descant upon the extraordi-
nary attractions of this very singular entertainment, as
it would be most certainly a matter of supererogation if
we seriously undertook here to demonstrate its origin-
ality,' Captain Wilson's "Crimean Relics" deserve suc-
cess, and that success they will realise. The entertain.
merit has our cordial good wishes, and we doubt not that
it will secure to itself and its ingenious originator a
remarkable degree of popularity.