The Princeton University Orchestra opened its 2016-17 season this past weekend with a performance of music both rooted in the theater and revolutionary in its innovation. Princeton University Orchestra conductor Michael Pratt described Saturday night’s concert at Richardson Auditorium (the performance was repeated Sunday afternoon) as two 20th-century works “sandwiched” around a composer Mr. Pratt defined as the cornerstone of 19th-century orchestral invention, but the three works performed could be viewed as programmatic — telling stories of theater and life in general. With a very full stage of players to open the season, Mr. Pratt also shared the conducting podium in the second half of the program with Ruth Ochs, no stranger to heavy-duty symphonic works herself. 

American composer Samuel Barber wrote the one-movement Overture to The School for Scandal while a student at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, and the piece’s refreshing exuberance and spirit reflected 1930s American hope and promise. Unlike the traditional overture form, Barber’s Overture was not an opening to a longer work, but in this case served as a preamble to the two heavier works which followed. Starting out with a strident dissonant chord, the Overture presented a joyful yet disjointed melody in the violins, with added drama from very clean brass. Elegant wind solos were played by oboist Ethan Petno and English hornist Lia Hankla. The piece had a bit of a rollicking feel, with Mr. Pratt keeping the sprightly sections light. A quartet of horns played cleanly throughout, with crisp passages from the oboes, clarinets, and flutes leading to a triumphant end.

The composer — who Mr. Pratt described as a foundation of symphonic development — was Hector Berlioz, whose music stretched to outer limits the capabilities of the 19th-century orchestra as well as the ears of his audiences. Berlioz’s 1839 Romeo and Juliet continued the tradition begun by Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 by bringing together orchestra, soloists, and chorus in a large scale symphonic work. The University Orchestra performed three excerpts from this piece — an orchestral soliloquy for “Romeo Alone,” a high-spirited portrayal of a “Festival at the Capulets,” and a poignant “Love Scene.”

Mr. Pratt began “Romeo Alone” with tender and faint violins, setting a pensive and reflective mood from the outset. He built the drama in the music slowly, with broad conducting gestures emphasizing smooth string playing. Most impressive were poignant solos from oboist Tiffany Huang and clarinetist Brian Kang, especially Ms. Huang’s playing against quick pizzicato playing from the strings.

The party music of the “Festival at the Capulets” was quite celebratory, with a musical effect which easily recalled the world of opera. Eight percussionists (including two triangles and two tambourines) and a broad melody heard from the brass brought the raucous party to its height, and Ms. Huang’s solo at the close of the movement reminded the audience that this story was about Romeo. The “Love Scene” moved along quickly, with precise winds and a slow-building intensity to the movement. The orchestra brought out the youthful exuberance characterizing the young lovers, and the movement was brought gracefully to a close.

Ruth Ochs led the orchestra in the substantial work which closed the program, and which featured Princeton University senior Samantha Cody, winner of the University’s Concerto Competition last year, as solo violinist. Dmitri Shostakovich’s Concerto for Violin No. 1 in A Minor was a nonstop journey through intensity and pathos, reflecting the composer’s never-ending struggle to express his creativity in a repressive political environment. Ms. Ochs began the opening melody of the first movement deliberately, with Ms. Cody playing the solo line almost as if to herself. A very thoughtful player, Ms. Cody played pensively and with a continual element of sadness which no doubt captured the circumstances under which this piece was written.

Throughout the solo violin part (which was almost nonstop), Ms. Cody provided a melancholy character, especially taking her time in the third movement cadenza. The violin part in this concerto requires virtuosity, but it was virtuosity of emotion in addition to technique. Ms. Cody was well up to the task, accompanied by an orchestra always in control of the varied moods of the piece, and both orchestra and soloist brought the concert to a brilliant close.