There is a point in a very good concert where I get a tingling sensation down my back and goosebumps up my arms. And in last night's Bermuda Festival performance by Clifford Benson, it happened unusually early.

'Nocturne in F Sharp Major' by Fr?d?ric Fran?ois Chopin was just the second piece in an uplifting recital and thoroughly enjoyable evening.

It normally takes a few sets to get used to the challenging acoustics in the City Hall Theatre and block out the hum of the air conditioning, but all that was forgotten when Benson launched into this part of the piano recital.

The dramatic emotional piece set the tone for the night. Inspired by Irishman John Field, a pupil of Clementi who composed the first "nocturnes", Benson used the reconditioned City Hall piano to its fullest with a passionate rendition.

The embellished and repeated theme was hypnotising and gripping at the same time with a rhythm which not only sounded but also felt like rushing water.

The second tingle came, predictably, from Claude Debussy's 'Clair de Lune'. This is one of Debussy's most well-known works, and Benson's performance was magnificent.

Adding to the play of light on water was an unusual phenomenon - during the piece Benson's cuff slipped up his arm and the theatre lights caught off his watch an a small circle of light danced over the black back-drop in a interpretation of its own.

Last night, Benson showed why he is in so much demand for his performances around the world and why his masterclasses are so popular.

I will never be able to hear Johannes Brahms' 'Rhapsody in G Minor' again without thinking of the description given by Benson just before he sat down at the piano.

He told the tale of a cartoon of Brahms walking to the nearest inn followed by a little hedgehog. Benson said he believed the hedgehog was the prickly part of of Brahms' character, and when he played this piece, he was always reminded of the little hedgehog following him down the street.

And under the sinister march-like theme, you could hear the footsteps of the hedgehog like the heartbeat of a small animal, and see the figure, followed close at heel by the little beast.

Apart from being an obviously exceptionally accomplished musician, Benson's ability to bring the music so visually alive must be why he has been described as a "poet of the piano".

His interpretations, lightness of touch, tempo and cadence delighted the audience from start to finish.

And he knows how to tickle the crowd, picking Debussy's L'Isle Joyeuse, and likening Bermuda to the paradise isle described in the piece.

The choice of music for the programme combined some well-known classics with some more challenging pieces which appealed across the board.

The 20 segments of Robert Alexander Schumann's Carnival, inspired by Schumann's fascination with the letters ASCH, was an excellent choice and a perfect vehicle to demonstrate Benson's imaginative interpretations.

The only question that is left to answer is why was this performance not sold out?