This solo recital by Derek Bell was organised to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the UCD International Summer School. The audience was dominated by visiting students and the tone of the concert was light and informal, Bell providing lengthy anecdotal introductions and asides.

The first half was devoted to harp arrangements of O'Carolan, while in the second Bell switched to the piano and played music by Seoirse Bodley and John Field. He plays Carolan brilliantly, capturing the mix of baroque and traditional in his clear, unfussy arrangements. With Quarrel with the Landlady and Michael O'Connor he presented fast, technically demanding melodies, without ever making them sound hurried and without losing the light, dance feel. Of the slower tunes, the seldom-heard Mrs. Keel stood out as a graceful performance.

Here and elsewhere, Bell was consistently attentive to detail, carefully dampening strings. Toward the end of the half, the director of the Summer School, Fran O'Rourke, bravely joined Bell on stage, and sang passable versions of a few Carolan tunes.

Shifting from harp to piano, the second half opened dramatically with Seoirse Bodley's unpredictable and very modern From The Narrow Road To The Deep North - Bell put it across well, but musically it seemed a strange choice with which to open a half devoted to John Field.

Bell holds Field in passionately high regard, and plays his music with all the appropriate sensitivity. His interpretation of the Sonata No.1 in E Flat made an ordinary piece quite involving, and the selection of Nocturnes were all attractively rendered. A light but very enjoyable concert.