You didn’t have to be a fan of classical music to appreciate the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s invitation to dance on Wednesday night at Roy Thomson Hall.

On the program, repeating Thursday, was a trio of 20th century pieces that engage the limbs, the gut and the heart, played with clear purpose and brilliant virtuosity.

You can thank visiting conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto for this evening of musical verve. Originally scheduled to make his Toronto debut this weekend in a program of Latin-flavoured classics, the music director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico agreed to be a last-minute substitute for American conductor Robert Spano, who is suffering from a slipped disc.

Prieto took over the podium with confidence, shaping rhythmically pointed and gorgeously coloured interpretation of two ballet classics: the second suite from Manuel de Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat, from 1919, and Igor Stravinsky’s 1947 revision of his 1911 work, Petrouchka. Both were commissioned by the Ballets Russes.

Courtesy of John Terauds, Entertainment Reporter and Music Critic for The Star