Conductor Gustavo Dudamel drove his LA Phil band up the 5 for two concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday night at Davies Symphony Hall. I made a good faith attempt to show up on Tuesday, but Tool had a concert at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and the whole neighborhood was desperately gridlocked. Judging from Wednesday night, where I made it on time, I missed out on a stellar performance.

Wednesday's playbill: Yuja Wang in Rach 3, Brahms' 2nd symphony and a modern curtain riser that I was ready to ignore but turned out inventive and full of personality.

For his third piano concerto, Rachmaninoff plugged a hose to a fire hydrant of notes, and let it spew and gush and burst, defying pianists to grab it and aim it to the right spot without being tossed around. Yuja Wang faced the arduous task of corralling the flow, and did she ever. Not only did she dispatch the torrent of chords and arpeggios with a relaxed ease, but she let a bright rainbow of melody shine above. It was a ridiculous performance. And she'll be back for more.