His Majesty's Theatre

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His Majesty’s Theatre 825 Hay Street, Perth, WA – The art of Rev. Father Lynch – Sat July 11, 1936

A VIOLIN RECITAL – REVIEW : The West Australian Newspaper (Perth, WA) Mon Jul 13, 1936 Page 18 – The Art OF Rev. Father Lynch By “Fidelio” – His Majesty’s Theatre performing Sat July 11, 1936

A brilliantly successful public violin recital at His Majesty’s Theatre that stands unrivaled.

The palm for clerical musical accomplishment in Western Australia just now undoubtedly belongs to the Roman Catholic communion. One has in mind, indeed, the sonorous contributions made to the programmes of a prominent choral society by a reverend gentleman of an other persuasion who at the moment is absent from the State, and there was a time when one of the Nonconformist pulpits of the city was held by a Mus. Bac. But the combination of a skilled and famed composer at the New Norcia monastery and, in the metropolitan area, a reverend father who can-and on Saturday did-give a brilliantly successful public violin recital at His Majesty’s Theatre stands unrivaled. The combination, incidentally, made graceful gestures, one member to the other. Dom S. Moreno had written a “Spanish Serenade” specially for Father Albert Lynch, and dedicated it to him, and Father Lynch gave it a first performance. It is a brisk affair, for the most part, in several sections and characteristic in rhythms.

House full

It is now nearly a year since Father Lynch (who, before his entry to the priesthood, was well known as a talented violinist) returned from Europe, and between that time and Saturday he had not given a public performance. Naturally the recital created much interest, so much so that at a time when local artists as a rule find it difficult to fill even the smallest of our halls for such ventures, Father Lynch drew a large audience to the biggest of them. Among those present was Archbishop Prendiville.

Convincing and impressive

Father Lynch met with a very cordial reception, and his artistic success was convincing and impressive. His performances showed him firmly in control of a very considerable technique, enabling him to attack exacting music with elan and bring off its effects clearly and brilliantly. In this they were notable, but not less so in virtue of the beautiful singing tone he produced, which was an outstanding feature. In conjunction with sensitive phrasing (in which the slur was used with perfect judgment, never bearing down the melodic curves into sentimentality) this made his treatment of lyrical passages most appealing and satisfying. Nothing in the evening, for instance, was finer than the opening movement of Corelli’s sonata in A major. a sustained music of gracious gravity. The point and vitality given to the succeeding Allegro were also admirable.

Father Lynch’s playing was inspiring.

Other works in which the player’s lyrical gift was happily demonstrated were the “Canzonetta” movement from Tschaikowsky’s concerto, a negro spiritual, Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” and one or two of the six numbers in an attractive “Suite Populaire Espagnol” by Manuel de Falla -the dreamy “Asturisna,” for instance, which followed a characteristic Andalu sian Dance, abrupt and brusque. The concerto was the evening’s centrepiece and the chief occasion for virtuosity. The dash of Father Lynch’s playing was here inspiringly in evidence, especially in the headlong rhythms of the finale, and it was also a feature of the more vigorous of the de Falla items and the energetic number, a kind of fierce moto perpetuo from Dohnanyi’s “Ruralia Hungarica” suite, which concluded the programme. Other listed items were a Bach gavotte, a Schumann Romance, and the curious “El Campiello” by the modern composer Principe, in which a short thrummed passage, heard twice, represents, one assumes, the “little bell.” The negro spintual (“Nobody knows de trouble”) and the “Ave Maria” were among the encores, which included also Poldini’s “Poupee Valsante,” the most popular of Brahms waltzes and “La Precieuse” (Couperin-Kreisler).

Mr. Sidney Lynch

The recitalist was fortunate in the admirable co-operation of Mr. Edward Black at the piano. Vocal interludes were provided by Mr. Sidney Lynch, a young baritone, and the violinist’s brother, who succeeded best with his stimulating, vigorously-delivered numbers by the English composers Vaughan Williams, Michael Head, and Russell.

EXTRA

Albert Lynch was no less successful in Europe than in West Australia. His three and a half years of study were marked by no little triumphs. On Australia Day, 1925, Dame Nellie Melba engaged him to play at concerts which she was organising, and his success was such that he was singled out for special attention and praise by London newspapers papers. Albert Lynch is regarded as a violinist of supreme ability. It could be said the greatest West Australian exponent of the instrument in his time – Contributed by Greg Lynch –