LSO concert set for Dec. 17

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Maestro Anthony LaGruth and the Livingston Symphony Orchestra invite you to join them on Saturday, Dec. 17, at 7:30 p.m. for their winter concert at Livingston High School Auditorium, 30 Robert Harp Drive, Livingston . The second performance in the orchestra’s 2016-2017 season, the concert includes works from venerated composers such as Beethoven, Dvorak and Ravel and will feature guest soloist Kate Dillingham.

Beethoven’s “Egmont Overture,” composed between 1809 and 1810, is a heroic and dramatic work summarizing the struggle for freedom from Spanish rule by a 16th-century Dutch nobleman. Written as incidental music for the Vienna premiere of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1787 play, the overture summarizes the drama encapsulated within the play, including themes representing the oppressiveness of Spanish rule, Egmont’s execution and his triumphant martyrdom.

Considered by many to be among the greatest ballet scores of the 20th century, Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloe” of 1912 is also his grandest and largest work, written for an orchestra and ensemble of massive proportions. Known best for the excerpts contained in two suites, the ballet is based on a pastoral drama by the Greek poet Longus and depicts the romance of the eponymous characters, one’s abduction and subsequent escape from a band of pirates, and, as musically portrayed in the Second Suite that the LSO will perform, the reuniting and celebration of the lovers.

Completed in 1895, Dvorak’s “Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104,” was the second and final composition for cello in Dvorak’s repertory. Written some 30 years after his first attempt at a cello concerto, one he considered a failure and thus never bothered to orchestrate, the intervening time between the two had seen the composition of his nine symphonies and numerous orchestral, operatic and choral works, allowing for a profound maturation in his style and understanding of the instrument for which he was writing. Though a demanding piece, this concerto does not serve as a vehicle for the soloist and their virtuosic playing. Rather, the composition focuses on making the orchestra and soloist into a whole, trading themes to allow for more pronounced thematic development.

Dillingham, a native of New York City, has been performing as a soloist and chamber musician both at home and abroad for many years to great renown. A fierce advocate for music by living composers, she has worked tirelessly to broaden the range and repertoire of the cello, and will bring that drive and commitment to this concerto.

This program is presented by a group of dedicated, professional-level musicians, and is led by a charismatic conductor in his second season with the orchestra. LaGruth promises to bring his gift for teaching and storytelling to an engaging performance. Tickets are charged. For more information on this evening, visit www.lsonj.org or call 973-980-1809.

  Livingston High School, Livingston Symphony Orchestra