Irish Times reviewers report from the arts scene:

Emilia Galotti

Gaiety Theatre, Dublin

Moving with slow grace down a long narrow stage, Emilia Galotti pauses, face front, while an incandescent shower of sparks strafes down from above. The entrance and pose are so icy and impressive - the actress Katharina Schmalenberg betrays no emotion - that these could be the opening moments of a Karl Lagerfeld autumn fashion show. A moment later Emilia encounters the sexually covetous Prince Gonzaga and though her tragedy is set in motion, they pass each other like models on a runway.

This, I suspect, is not quite what Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, leader of the Enlightenment, had in mind when he sat down in 1772 to write the first bourgeois tragedy of German theatre - a five-act fable about the destructive forces of lust and the venality of feudal rulers. Michael Thalheimer's production for Deutsches Theater recognises that a classic must be adapted to suit our fitful times, however, and so Emilia Galotti has been hauled from the German classroom into a world Lessing couldn't anticipate.

Lessing is often considered a cold fish, but in truth he prized a drama of humanity and compassion. Here, however, humanity seems inaccessible; emotions are either smothered or submerged. Characters speak in sustained bursts of cant, charging through lines in single breaths. The simple act of touching becomes a form of agony and ecstasy, accompanied with an anxious dance. When someone is afflicted with emotion, they convulse in a cacophony of ripped shirts, screams, tremors and complete collapse.

"In this language nothing means everything and everything amounts to nothing," Emilia's mother warns her. She is talking about the Prince's dubious chivalry, but she could just as well be commenting on the vocabulary of the production, in which austerity speaks volumes but speech is hollow.

What becomes all-important is movement, conceived as an imperceptibly developing dance and given inexorable motion by a perpetual, looped waltz.

Those who like their beauty kept chilled will appreciate the forlorn serenity of Katrin Klein as the Prince's jilted and vengeful mistress, or the antic humour of Ingo Hülsmann as his henchman. Without any rigid social oppression to oppose, however, the tragedy of Thalheimer's bourgeoisie as an autistic incapacity to connect - and their detachment becomes contagious.

That may be why our doomed heroine is swept away by a whirling coup de théâtre. Impressive certainly. But while there is much to admire in Thalheimer's cool staging, there is little to love. - Peter Crawley

Nils Wogram Quartet

The Coach House, Dublin

The Nils Wogram Quartet's Dublin debut as part of their Music Network tour offered a gripping example of contemporary jazz. Led by the virtuoso German trombonist, the group was completed by exceptional players; Hayden Chisholm (alto saxophone/bass clarinet/melodica), Matt Penman (bass) and Jochen Rückert (drums).

They set their stall out with the opening two pieces, Breathing and Bird's Trip. Both used a judicious mix of various devices - rubato, unison and harmonised lines, changes of tempo and time signature - along with a sure sense of how to incorporate solos into the mix without recourse to the simple blowing routines of so much jazz.

Each revealed the hand of the composer, Wogram, in a satisfying sense of the dramatic arc of a performance, which became even clearer as the concert developed. The harmonically sparse climate in which they worked also gave the band considerable freedom, not only in blending the voices available, including, on occasion, the bass, but also in solo work.

And there was nowhere any sense of self-indulgence. On Desert, a beautiful, melancholy piece with an unusual line introduced by unaccompanied bass and followed by voiced alto and trombone, the solos were essentially a succession of full choruses between alto and trombone. The result was an impressively unified, gentle group performance.

With Lost Keys, we got everything; wonderfully executed unison alto and trombone, brilliantly negotiated time changes, a trombone solo breath-taking in ideas, form and execution, and a great sense of how to use contrast. The first set closed with an uptempo charge through a convoluted The Myth, with Wogram employing multiphonics and circular breathing, supported by Chisholm on melodica.

The second set was even better, opening with an extended composition, The Storm, and including a marvellous contemporary take on the blues, The Lake, which epitomised what this quartet is about. And there was a glimpse of khoomei, or Tuvan throat-singing, from Chisholm on the beautiful Dawn.

But, above all, this concert was as much a triumph for the ensemble and for Wogram's composer's gifts as it was for the marvellous individuals within it. - Ray Comiskey

• The Nils Wogram Quartet will be in Tinahely (tonight), Moate (Sun), Ballina (Tue), Carrick-on- Shannon (Wed), Oldcastle (Thurs) and Drogheda (Fri).

Concorde, RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet

National Gallery

Jane O'Leary moved from America to Ireland in 1972. Since then she has been prominent as a composer and as the founding artistic director of the ensemble Concorde, which has a long record of commissioning new works. So it was apt that the Contemporary Music Centre and others should mark her 60th birthday with this concert of five of her compositions.

A striking aspect of the first three works was that none of them felt fast, or slow, or quite in the middle. The reason for this is suggested by the title of the piece composed for this concert, Soundshapes. Only ever so briefly did the sounds produced by Concorde suggest regular metre or rhythm. Colours from instruments and from wordless soprano shift subtly into and away from a blend of sorts.

Voice, alto flute, clarinet and violin make a quartet whose sounds play on the possibilities of togetherness and separation; so it's a striking event when, for example, the alto flute and the soprano come together for a low unison.

In this work, in the Four Pieces for Guitar (1993), which were authoritatively played by their dedicatee John Feeley, and in something there (2006) for clarinet, violin, cello and accordion, ideas were more concerned with subtly shifting moments than with large-scale projection. So it was interesting that Why the Hill Sings, for viola d'amore and piano strings plucked, stroked or drummed, felt more sustained.

The final work was Jane O'Leary's second string quartet Mystic Play of Shadows (1995). More than any of these pieces, it is shaped by metre and regular rhythm. Its warm sounds suggest that a sensualist is coming out. Why not? - Martin Adams

Public Enemy

Vicar Street, Dublin

Public Enemy may yet spark another revolution in hip-hop. Just when you're afraid that gangsta rap might take over the world, along comes a strong dose of the old school. As Chuck D spat politics from his onstage vantage point, he stirred the Irish crowd in the same way he once roused the anger of dispossessed African-Americans in the 1980s.

Chuck wasn't happy and he came to tell us why. From George Bush and Tony Blair's ill-fated war in Iraq to the state of hip-hop, the emcee had plenty to say. He was joined by hip-hop's greatest hype man, Flavor Flav, the only man ever to wear oversized clock necklaces with style. With his gold teeth glinting in the spotlight, Flav brought light and wacky comic relief.

Prof Griff, the unassuming emcee, was skulking in the background. As ever, he played third fiddle to the two more enigmatic rappers. Everywhere Flav went, he was followed by Security of the First World (S1W) foot soldiers. Dressed all in black and brandishing their Samaria swords, the soldiers were a reminder of PE's.

Flav spends most of his time in reality TV land these days, a point which provoked boos and hisses when he inquired if the crowd watched his show. "Everything you see me do is real," he insisted. "Flavor Flav is never fake!" Left alone onstage, Flav gave the crowd a taste of his forthcoming debut solo album, which left people chanting for the reappearance of Chuck D. DJ Lord's scratching skills got a much better reception, as did solos from the bass player, guitarist and drummer that Public Enemy had brought along to add an extra dimension to their show.

Back in the day, PE's rhymes changed the rules of rap braggadocio and their rendition of Fight the Power proved it still had the desired effect. Despite the group's militant association, their message was one of unity. In the words of Chuck D: "Power to the people because the people want peace." - Ali Bracken