As the guest of honor country in the ongoing Meet In Beijing arts festival, Mexico brings Beijing some of its best artists and ensembles. The cellist Carlos Prieto is one of the prides of Mexico who will give a recital at the Beijing Concert Hall tonight.

At the concert, Prieto will play Shostakovich's Sonata and some works by the Mexican and Argentina's composer such as the famous Argentina composer Astor Piazzolla's "La Grand Tango."

Born in Mexico City, Prieto began playing the cello at age four, studying with the Hungarian cellist Imre Hartman and later with Pierre Fournier in Geneva and Leonard Rose in New York.

He has played with such prestigious orchestras as the Royal Philharmonic in London, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, among many others. His performance consistently receives enthusiastic acclaim. The New York Times review of his Carnegie Hall debut raved: "Prieto has no technical limitations, and his musical instincts are impeccable."

Remarkable is Prieto's contribution to the cello repertoire. Since 1980 he has played the world premieres of some 80 compositions, most of which were written for him by the main composers from Mexico, Latin America, Spain and other countries.

In 1985, Prieto paid his first visit to China and collaborated with Chinese pianist Bao Huiqiao for a concert. He planned to play with Bao when he returned to China this time. However, it wasn't possible because of Bao's schedule. So he has invited the Uruguay-born pianist Edison Quintana to play with him at the concert.

(China Daily May 19, 2006)