Benjamin Grosvenor; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Dutoit, BBC Proms, Cadogan Hall; Royal Albert Hall, London - review

The 22-year-old Benjamin Grosvenor has grown up as a pianist in front of audiences at the BBC Proms. Having made his debut at the First Night of the Proms in 2011 as a teenager, he has already added three more concerto appearances and now has a solo lunchtime Prom at Cadogan Hall to add to his name.

It is heartening to see young artists taking up new music and Grosvenor did so in style on Monday with a radiant new work by Judith Weir, recently appointed Master of the Queen's Music. Day Break Shadows Flee lasts around 10 minutes and Weir, so often the miniaturist, described it as a "big piece for me". In essence, the music contrasts high and low sounds, gleaming shafts of light against a nocturnal, hazy gloom. Effervescent, rippling motifs create a tightly-organised structure typical of Weir's music, and Grosvenor, always fastidious about detail, proved an ideal choice to bring her precisely-lit sound-world to life. The piece does end strangely, though, leaving the music hanging in the air.

Throughout the recital Grosvenor was at his best when there were showers of notes for him to show off his dexterity. Chopin's Ballade No. 1 was wonderfully playful and elfin at its centre, but rhythmically a bit pulled-around elsewhere. The three Paisajes ("Landscapes") of Mompou were gently evocative and Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales glinted with bright, clear textures. Liszt's virtuoso arrangement of the Waltz from Gounod's Faust shimmered, except where Grosvenor's tone turned hard and steely. His encore, a Capriccio by Ernst von Dohnanyi, was dazzling.

By contrast, the evening Prom was a gargantuan affair. Danny Driver was the nimble pianist in Walton's Sinfonia Concertante, though Walton does not make it easy for his soloist, who is given barely a moment to shine (or even make himself heard) in what is a singularly unmemorable work. On either side of Walton's greyness Charles Dutoit and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra lit Roman fireworks - Berlioz's Overture Le carnaval romain and Respighi's Roman orchestral showpieces, all three of them, no less. The latter offer bombast worthy of Hollywood, as the orchestrator's magic wand tries to disguise the absence of any real music. Respighi throws in everything but the kitchen sink (the Royal Albert Hall organ was on roaring form) and Dutoit and his players did their best to raise the roof.

bbc.co.uk/proms

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