An unfamiliar face guided the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) through some rather more familiar works on Sunday afternoon at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. Under the idiosyncratic baton of young Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski – here making his North American debut – the orchestra made a convincing case for the first piece on the program, Kaija Saariaho’s Ciel d’hiver (2010). Aficionados of Saariaho’s music would recognize her characteristic language of complex, rippling sonic textures, launched in this case by crystalline figures from piccolo and harp. The titular winter sky was well rendered by the orchestra, encouraged by the understated conducting of Peltokoski, who often stood statue-like with only his right hand in motion. Despite its bleak colours and occasionally glacial pace, the work was well-received, holding the audience in a long and suspenseful silence after its final notes died away.