At just 19 years old, Naples-born Cristina Galietto is part of the rising generation of exceptionally talented Italian guitarists. Whether it’s the exceptional schools spread throughout the country or the many annual regional guitar festivals and competitions that happen year ’round from the north to the south, or both, there’s definitely something about bella italia that seem to produce and promote great classical guitarists. (We should note, though, that Galietto also received excellent guitar tutoring in England, where she studied with the esteemed Carlos Bonnell at the Royal Academy of Music).
She recently put out her first album, Avant L’Aube (“Before Dawn”) on Timespan Recordings; it contains pieces by Rodrigo, Dyens, Scarlatti, Alexis Rago (who wrote the title track), George Schmitz, and Gennaro Caruso. I’m really looking forward to hearing that. This Video Pick gives us a taste of the album, as Galietto performs a truly lovely version of Scarlatti’s keyboard sonata K408. We follow that with an informative promotional video for the album. —Blair Jackson
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