Mauro Giuliani - Guitar concerto Op.30 in A major, Cristobal Selame (LIVE)

Soloist: Cristóbal Selame
Conductor: Nicole Paiement
"Classical Guitar" Magazine
By Blair Jackson
"Last night (Jan. 14), the opening concert at the 3rd International Guitar Competition and Festival Maurizio Biasini, held at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, offered an incredibly entertaining and adventurous program that included two world premieres and a can’t-miss favorite from the early 19th century.
The impressively large crowd that turned out on a cold, rainy evening to fill much of the gorgeous Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall settled in with a crisp and energetic rendition of Mauro Giuliani’s Guitar Concerto No. 1 in A major, Op. 30, featuring Chilean guitarist Cristóbal Selamé (currently studying at SFCM under Sergio Assad) fronting a flawless 14-piece string ensemble of SFCM alumni, conducted with both vim and sensitivity by Nicole Paiement. Giuliani’s concerto, written around 1812, during his years in Vienna, is a wonderful piece of classical writing, with plenty for the guitarist to do-no surprise given Giuliani’s reputation as one of the great guitarists of his era. Selamé appeared to have no trouble negotiating the speedy passages in the first and third movements, and handled the middle Andantino with great feeling and delicacy. He, Paiement, and the orchestra were locked tightly together through to the lively finale"