Svein Skretting

When Svein Skretting had played the violin for six months, he wanted to quit, but he was not allowed to before having completed one full year. Before the year was out, he had started enjoying playing, and his enjoyment only grew as time passed:

− When I had played for a couple of years I became capable of communicating something with my instrument which I couldn’t communicate in any other way. It spurred me on and I started to love playing − after a while there was nothing I wanted to do more.

When Svein had completed high school, he decided to pursue full-time violin studies. He benefited from good teachers along the way:

− Reidar Knudsen at Østlandet’s Music Conservatory was the first to say that I should pursue music. At Norges Musikkhøgskole I got Lars Anders Tomter as a teacher, who was a very inspiring teacher of interpretation. Also Magnus Ericsson, who was a former concertmaster with the Oslo Philharmonic, helped me a great deal with the technical aspect.

− Great colleagues and a good working atmosphere

− After his studies, in 1999, Svein was offered a job as a violinist with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra:

− Only after I got the job did I realise how fantastic it was. Firstly, I am passionate about the medium itself: the music. I have great colleagues and there is a good working atmosphere. The level is incredibly high and there is a strong sense of discipline in the orchestra, so even if the conductor isn’t in the best shape, the orchestra will rise to the occasion on its own.

− Some of his best memories with the orchestra stem from concerts with Jukka-Pekka Saraste conducting:

− It’s especially fun to play Sibelius with Jukka-Pekka. There is something very genuine and authentic about him as a musician, and there is never anything superficial in what he does. He clearly has his own special relationship with Sibelius − no one can match him in that music.

When it comes to his own favourite music, Svein feels that “the greats are the greatest”: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.