Backstage: Pass the Prokofiev

By Victoria McCabe

Thanksgiving weekend—turkey, stuffing and Prokofiev. It’s a recipe New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Eric Wyrick is planning to savor. Wyrick performs Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Orchestra on the “Järvi Returns” concert program the NJSO will present November 25–27 in Princeton, Newark and New Brunswick.

Wyrick performed Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto with the Orchestre de Toulouse in France at age 19, but his personal history with the work predates that performance by about five years. For an assignment at Juilliard’s Pre-College Division, Wyrick needed to find a work “that would really resonate personally and stimulate another level of performance.”

“So I was just looking for a piece,” he says, “and I heard another student, whom I really looked up to, playing the Prokofiev. I thought it was so charismatic, and I really loved it. It’s very beautiful and accessible to the audience. I think what makes it difficult is that it ends quietly—it doesn’t have the rousing ending that makes the audience rise to its feet. But it’s such a fabulous piece.”

The 14-year-old Wyrick threw himself into the work wholeheartedly, immersing himself in the concerto even outside of practicing. “I had this old record player, and I would listen to the work every night, falling asleep to it and learning the ins and outs of it.”

He cites the Prokofiev recordings of Ukrainian violinists Igor Oistrakh and Isaac Stern as the two interpretations that most affected him. “The Oistrakh was this really Soviet production; he played like an animal, with this very emotionally raw performance. I aspire to play like that. I think you take the performance that is most different from how you play, and you try to get there, or incorporate elements of it. Stern’s recording is one I related to a bit better because it is more in the style of how I play. He has a dark-sounding voice and an expressivity that’s very familiar to me,” he says. 

“Preparing the concerto now is like meeting an old friend,” the concertmaster says. “You know what to expect for the most part, and you have a shared history. It’s interesting to think of music on a page sharing something with you, but it does.

“I’ve changed significantly over the years in my confidence in what I can express emotionally. Since I last performed this piece, I have had a whole lifetime of experiences—it’s been more than 30 years. It’s interesting; it’s like I am a different person playing this piece but one with the same memories of it.”

When the NJSO plans its next season’s programming, Wyrick’s next concerto with the Orchestra is always on the menu. The concertmaster says that his involvement in the process is always different. Last season, he performed Edward T. Cone’s Violin Concerto because he wanted to be involved in the first season of the NJSO’s New Jersey Roots Project. For this season, he suggested the Prokofiev.

So why this piece, why now? “I think it was about wanting to revisit a work from my past; I have a desire to play some of my older repertoire and bring something new to it. Playing a piece I last played in my student years is very interesting—a lot of those works are quite difficult repertoire, and when you are a student trying to tackle these major concertos when you don’t have the fully developed tools to do it, you have a certain anxiety. Now, I can revisit those works without that anxiousness; it’s all about creating something memorable, tackling problems from a very different point of view. It’s very gratifying,” he says.

The NJSO has not performed Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto since 1991. “We’ve performed Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto many times, but this may be the first time [our audiences will hear us play] the First. I like that aspect of it—it’s such a beautiful piece, and I like to introduce people to music they may not have heard before.”

Thanksgiving’s claim to fame may be the food, but it is also about family, and for Wyrick, performing solo with his own orchestra is a special experience. “This orchestra is remarkable in how much regard people have for each other and in the good vibes everyone gives. You can find [that respect and fondness] elsewhere as well, but you can also find the opposite. It is really great to perform with and for my NJSO colleagues.”

And it is a family-reunion weekend of sorts, with NJSO Conductor Laureate Neeme Järvi taking the podium for the program. Wyrick is looking forward to seeing what the conductor will bring to the work: “Playing this piece with Neeme is really exciting. It’s right up his alley, and it really fits with minimalist physical approach that he has. The work is spare in its expression, and [Järvi] does that so well. He’ll move his shoulder, his hands, showing what the music is about. And in terms of my solo playing, Neeme has been so supportive and has pushed me to do things outside my comfort zone, and I have been able to really grow as a result of that.”

In an NJSO season celebrating “Music You Can Taste,” a Thanksgiving concert featuring Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto couldn’t be more perfect for Wyrick. “For me, Prokofiev is comfort food,” he says. “It’s melodic, and it has this beauty, color and character. It has spice and sweetness—you really can taste this piece. Cranberries come to mind—the concerto has some tang, some tenderness.” 

The NJSO performs “Järvi Returns” on Friday, November 25, at 8 p.m. at the Richardson Auditorium in Princeton; Saturday, November 26, at 8 p.m. at NJPAC in Newark and Sunday, November 27 at 3 p.m. at the State Theatre in New Brunswick. For more information—including video clips and extended online program notes—or to purchase tickets, click here.