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The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.
1971
A young Irish ward boss has a chance to be elected mayor, but the disgraced current mayor makes sure the candidate's wife learns about his affair with a just-deceased rich girl.
1972
Long-nosed Cyrano de Begerac helps an army officer woo Roxanne, the woman he loves. Directed by William Ball, starring Peter Donat and Marsha Mason.
1985
In 1890s London, two friends use the same pseudonym ("Ernest") for their on-the-sly activities. Hilarity ensues.
A middle-aged journalist has, at last, grown up - only to find he's trapped in a world of emotional infants.
1985
The legendary gospel musical that transforms Sophocles’ timeless tale of the last days of Oedipus into a parable for our times. With its epic poetry and magnificent score, The Gospel at Colonus reminds us that out of the deepest sorrow, the highest and most uplifting hope can emerge.
1980
1981
1991
1990
Life and work of American composer Richard Rodgers, whose work, in collaboration with Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein II, and others, gave the world dozens of the greatest musical theater successes. motion picture soundtracks and songs of the 20th century. Interviews with family and friends, artists who worked with him, home movies. Excerpts from many film and television productions featuring his work, including "Oklahoma!', "South Pacific", "The Sound of Music", "The King and I", "Carousel", "Pal Joey", "Cinderella", "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum", "Love Me Tonight", "I Married an Angel", "Babes in Arms".
1993
Wanda Horowitz reminisces about her husband, the great pianist Vladimir Horowitz, with clips from his television appearances.
In the 50's, in Paris, the neighbors Rodolfo and Mimi meet each other when Mimi's candle blows out in a cold and dark night. They immediately fall in love for each other, in times of financial difficulties in the post-war. Rodolfo introduces Mimi to his close friends Marcello and his beloved Musetta; Colline; and Schaunard and together they have a good-time in Café Momus. Some time later, Mimi tells Marcello that she can not support the jealousy of Rodolfo any longer and when Marcello discuss with Rodolfo, Mimi overhears the real reason for the behavior of her beloved Rodolfo.
1992
1993
1994
1995
1997
In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
1996
The story of the fall and redemption of Jean Valjean, arrested for stealing some bread for his starving family. In prison he's constantly bothered by the hard-nosed lawman Javert. Valjean is paroled, but runs away and becomes the mayor of a small town. He meets a dying woman named Fantine and swears to raise her daughter. Javert catches up to him, but Valjean escapes. The daughter, Cosette, grows up and falls in love with Marius, a student. An ill-fated, student-led revolution makes the mother of all climaxes for this beauty of a production. And the end with the 50 or so Valjeans is pretty impressive!
1998
Frank Sinatra's beginnings in Hoboken New Jersey, and how he discovers his passion for singing. We see as Sinatra performs with various groups and bands, eventually working toward performing solo. These are also the years Sinatra develops his unique vocal style and works his way into the hearts of the girls in bobby socks and socialites alike.
1999
This film presents highlights of a concert given on 28 September 1998 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Some of the ladies offer songs with which they have been closely associated over the years, while others explore the road not taken.
2000
Documentary assembling film clips of musical numbers from songwriters considered significant contributors to pop culture before the advent of rock and roll.
2001
This production is a filmed record of a concert given on 16 October 2000 at the City Center for Music and Dance, New York City, to raise funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. The occasion was particularly notable in that it marked Julie Andrews' (brief) return to singing in public after a four-year hiatus.
2002
2005
A collective journey from synagogue choirs to Harlem hot spots, from Yiddish theater to musical extravaganza, from klezmer to ragtime, from symphonic jazz to swing. All the way from the Bowery to Tin Pan Alley to Broadway to Hollywood - FROM SHTETL TO SWING recounts the ebullient story of a musical metamorphosis born in darkest Russia.
A concert version of the popular radio program.
2008
From soccer-playing son of a Modena, Italy, baker to onstage partner of "La Stupenda," world-renowned soprano Joan Sutherland, from media darling to truly one-of-a-kind superstar, it is a story writ as large as the great one himself.
Hitman: David Foster & Friends features Foster himself presiding center stage at the keyboard. The evening is a virtual jukebox worth of songs written by and/or produced by him. Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and brother Kevon offer “I Swear;” Brian McKnight revisits Earth, Wind and Fire’s “After the Love Has Gone;” former Chicago front man Peter Cetera gets down with “Hard to Say I’m Sorry,”
From its opening vocal salvo, Domingo’s thrilling account of Lehar’s “Gern hab ich die Frau’n gekuesst” from Paganini, through Netrebko’s swirling Gypsy rendition of “Heia in den Bergen” (from Emmerich Kálmán’s Die Csárdásfürstin) to Villazón’s heart-breaking “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” (Lehar’s Land of Smiles), the program is a welcome reminder of the glittering lost world of operetta.
David Leveaux’s stylish production, with sumptuous costumes and sets by Gregory Gale and Tom Pye respectively, remains true to Rostand’s 1897 heartbreaker of a play, bursting with swashbuckling gascons and duplicitous noblemen, fops and ruffians. Its tale of the eponymous philosopher-swordsman (Kline), who pines for his beautiful cousin Roxane (Garner), yet is too ashamed of his large nose.
2009 Emmy Nominee Ian McKellen recreates his recent stage performance of Shakespeare's tragic monarch in a special television adaptation. Directed by Trevor Nunn, the telecast includes nearly all the original cast members of the sold-out Royal Shakespeare Company production that premiered in Stratford-Upon-Avon in April 2007.
Long-time friends and former band mates Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood team up for a once-in-a-lifetime reunion concert in Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood: Live From Madison Square Garden. The special telecast captures Clapton and Winwood at New York’s Madison Square Garden performing songs from their short-lived Blind Faith collaboration.
Wonder rocketed to stardom at age 12 when he was signed to Motown Records as “Little Stevie Wonder”. Over nearly four decades, Wonder has reinvigorated the music scene with his unique sound, produced nine number one records and won a total of 22 Grammy Awards – and there is no end in sight for the successful superstar.
Wicked’s Idina Menzel and Rent’s Adam Pascal join Great Performances favorite, internationally renowned vocalist Josh Groban in a spectacular London concert revival of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus’ 1986 cult musical Chess. Featuring diamond-sharp lyrics by Tim Rice (Evita, The Lion King), and the hit-filled production (“One Night in Bangkok,” “I Know Him So Well,” “The Anthem”).
With a career spanning more than half a century, renowned folk artist, political activist, and avid environmentalist, Pete Seeger, turned 90 in May of 2009. In honor of the milestone birthday, a multi-generational roster of artists, whose music has been shaped by Seeger’s vision, gathered at Madison Square Garden on May 3 to celebrate his lifetime achievement.
2004
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/james-taylor-one-man-band-introduction/154/
April 25, 2007, would have been Ella Fitzgerald's 90th birthday. To celebrate, Great Performances has created an all-star tribute to the great jazz singer.
2009
Considered the most dynamic young conductor in classical music since Bernstein, 28-year-old Gustavo Dudamel begins his tenure as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in fall 2009. In this program, learn more about Dudamel, the LA Philharmonic, composer John Adams, and see a movement from John Adams' "City Noir" and Mahler's "Symphony No. 1 in D major" performed at his inaugural concert.
Everyone’s favorite “Hitman” David Foster joins Great Performances superstar Andrea Bocelli for a new Christmas concert of holiday classics airing on Thanksgiving night. Showcasing Bocelli’s unmistakable soaring vocals are lush new arrangements infused with the distinctive Foster touch. The inspiring concert performance, recorded at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.
Multi-Grammy-winning phenomenon Michael Bublé returns to public television in Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden, a musical concert that captures the star in a trademark, high-octane performance. Recorded at New York City’s famed arena, this program’s highlights include a show-stopping collection of Bublé’s hits not included on the DVD release.
Shakespeare's immortal "To be, or not to be" takes on a whole new meaning (and medium) as classical stage and screen actors David Tennant and (recently-knighted) Sir Patrick Stewart reprise their roles for a modern-dress, film-for-television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) 2008 stage production of Hamlet.
Shakespeare's immortal "To be, or not to be" takes on a whole new meaning (and medium) as classical stage and screen actors David Tennant and (recently-knighted) Sir Patrick Stewart reprise their roles for a modern-dress, film-for-television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) 2008 stage production of Hamlet.
Jerome Robbins' urban ballet, set to a jazz score by Robert Prince, was originally performed in 1958. This film adaptation was shot in locations around New York City. Included is a 10-minute documentary about the origin and history of the work.
2010
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Conductor Emeritus Pierre Boulez leads the Windy City's internationally renowned orchestra in Gustav Mahler's "Symphony No. 7." The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association has announced that Music Director Riccardo Muti must withdraw from fall performances due to illness. The change in conductor necessitated the change in the evening’s program to Mahler's Symphony No. 7.
Performed on Sondheim's 80th birthday in March 2010, Great Performances presents the New York Philharmonic's salute to a true Broadway legend on November 24. Hosted by David Hyde Pierce, gathering to celebrate are acclaimed Sondheim alumni as Laura Benanti, Michael Cerveris, Victoria Clark, Joanna Gleason, Nathan Gunn, Patti LuPone, Marin Mazzie, Audra McDonald, Bernadette Peters, and many more.
The October 7 opening night concert of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Music Director Gustavo Dudamel featuring renowned Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Actress Eva Mendes hosts the broadcast.
Stage and screen legend Julie Andrews returns to host the annual New Year's celebration with the Vienna Philharmonic, under the direction of Mariss Jansons from Vienna's Musikverein. The famed Vienna Boys' Choir will add their celestial voices to the gala
Anna Netrebko revives her sensational turn in this sophisticated bel canto comedy, opposite Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien, and John Del Carlo in the title role. Met Music Director James Levine conducts. When Otto Schenk's production premiered in 2006, the New York Times acclaimed it as "brilliant" and "wonderful."
Adapted from a play by Alexander Pushkin about the extraordinary reign of the 16th-century tsar, Boris Godunov is regarded as one of the masterpieces of the Russian operatic repertoire. The Metropolitan Opera's new production of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov starring Rene Pape as Boris and conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Music “hitman” David Foster returns to Las Vegas with a showstopping show jam packed with special guests including Seal, Donna Summer, Earth, Wind & Fire and more.
Taped in July of 2010 at New York's Neil Simon Theater, Harry Connick, Jr. in Concert on Broadway features Connick's big band and a 12-piece string section, with the star on both a Steinway grand and upright honky-tonk piano.
Shortly before the demolition of New York City's Shea Stadium in July 2008, Billy Joel electrified audiences with two memorable concerts at the arena. Joel's special guests included Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks, and Sir Paul McCartney whose 1965 appearance there with the Beatles was so iconic. Hear those songs performed in full in Billy Joel: Live at Shea Stadium airing March on Great Performances.
The production is conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin, directed by Nicholas Hytner, and is starring Roberto Alagna, Marina Poplavskaya, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Simon Keenlyside, and Eric Halfvarson.
The Metropolitan Opera's production of La Fanciulla del West, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the opera's 1910 world premiere at the Met. Deborah Voigt sings the role of Minnie, with Marcello Giordani as Dick Johnson (the disguised bandit Ramerrez) and Lucio Gallo as the villainous sheriff Jack Rance.
Gluck's rarely performed masterpiece, Iphigenie en Tauride, starring Susan Graham, Placido Domingo and Paul Groves. Patrick Summers conducts the revival of the Metropolitan Opera's much-lauded production by Stephen Wadsworth.
On May 5, 2011, Carnegie Hall commemorated its 120th anniversary with a gala concert featuring Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic and special guests Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, and Audra McDonald. Carnegie Hall 120th Anniversary Concert - featuring the works of Beethoven, Ellington, Dvorak, and Gershwin
The Metropolitan Opera's premiere production of John Adams' Nixon in China, conducted by the composer and staged by internationally acclaimed director Peter Sellars.
In June 2010, Eric Clapton gathered the world's most talented guitar players at the third Crossroads Guitar Festival. All profits benefited The Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a treatment and education facility Clapton founded to help people suffering from chemical dependency.
Jackie is the youngest star in Great Performances' recent Hitman Returns: David Foster & Friends concert, performing virtuoso interpretations of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Pie Jesu" and Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro." David Foster will co-host the solo concert debut of the 10-year-old girl with the extraordinary soprano voice.
Lucia di Lammermoor, with French soprano Natalie Dessay in one of her greatest roles as Donizetti's fragile heroine.
Directed by Marco Bellocchio, Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto from Mantua stars Placido Domingo as Rigoletto; Julia Novikova as his daughter Gilda; Vittorio Grigolo as the Duke; and Ruggero Raimondi as the assassin Sparafucile. Recorded in Mantua, Italy and broadcast live around the world on September 4 and 5, 2010.
A trio of bel canto stars--Juan Diego Florez, Diana Damrau, and Joyce DiDonato--headline the Met's first-ever production of Le Comte Ory, Rossini's final comic masterpiece.
Renee Fleming sings one of her signature roles, the elegant Countess in Richard Strauss's Capriccio. Andrew Davis, who led the Met premiere of the opera in 1998, returned to conduct its first revival.
Distinguished conductor Valery Gergiev leads the third annual Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night concert. This year's theme revolves around "Virtuoso Pictures," as exemplified by the works of Franz Liszt, Niccolo Paganini, Modest Mussorgsky, and Johann Strauss.
The great Spanish tenor Placido Domingo looks back on his illustrious career - one which has been bountifully preserved on film and video. The celebrated tenor as he looks back and reflects with heartfelt candor on his choicest roles from opera houses around the world in this comprehensive performance documentary.
2011
An American favorite for his award-winning role in the hit TV series House, the versatile British actor Hugh Laurie showcases his musical side in an atmospheric personal odyssey filmed on location in New Orleans.
Beloved tenor Andrea Bocelli performs a free concert on Central Park's Great Lawn, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by its music director Alan Gilbert. Joining Bocelli on stage on this memorable night are Celine Dion, Tony Bennett, Chris Botti and David Foster.
John Neumeier -- director and chief choreographer for Hamburg Ballet -- blends dance, dramatic storytelling and spectacle into a unique interpretation of a classic Hans Christian Andersen’s tale. With choreography, sets, costumes, and lighting, all by Neumeier, this ballet—as much theater as it is dance—takes the dancers into deep emotional terrain.
Herbie Hancock, Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil Celebrate Gershwin, featuring that classic piece as well as "An American in Paris" and Hancock's unique improvisation on the great standard "Someone to Watch Over Me."
Anna Deavere Smith's latest production, Let Me Down Easy. The Great Performances production was recorded in February 2011 in the Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington, DC, launching a national tour that concluded in September.
The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Donizetti's Anna Bolena, starring soprano Anna Netrebko in her highly anticipated first North American performances of the tour-de-force title role, will be the 2012 season opener of Great Performances at the Met.
Tony Bennett: Duets II features the singer's greatest hits, performed by Bennett and today's biggest stars, including John Mayer, Michael Buble, k.d. lang, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Queen Latifah, Norah Jones, Josh Groban, Faith Hill, Alejandro Sanz, Carrie Underwood and more.
Broadway's smash hit musical Memphis, winner of four Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best Orchestrations, comes to Great Performances. Memphis is the first Best Musical Tony Award winner to air on U.S. national television with its original principals while continuing a successful Broadway run and national tour.
Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads his first Met performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni in a new production directed by Tony Award winner Michael Grandage in his Met debut.
The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater, a celebration of Yiddish theater pioneers Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky by their grandson, Michael Tilson Thomas, Artistic Director of the New World Symphony.
The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall, a fully-staged, lavish 25th anniversary mounting of Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running Broadway and West End extravaganza. Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess star in a spectacular presentation from the ornate London concert venue with a host of special guest stars at the conclusion.
Philip Glass's inspirational opera Satyagraha (Sanskrit for "truth force"), in the first revival of Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch's innovative 2008 production.
San Francisco Symphony's Centennial Season opening night gala, conducted by Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas. The two-hour broadcast is hosted by author Amy Tan and features Tilson Thomas conducting the Orchestra and two of the leading artists of our time: legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman and the dynamic pianist Lang Lang.
Renee Fleming reprises one of her most popular interpretations: the title role in Handel's Rodelinda, under the baton of Baroque specialist Harry Bicket in the revival of Stephen Wadsworth's acclaimed production.
Three of the opera world’s leading stars—Jonas Kaufmann, Marina Poplavskaya, and René Pape—sing the principal roles in a new production of Gounod’s Faust, directed by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff in his Met debut. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met performances of the opera.
The Enchanted Island is a world premiere work that combines Baroque music with a new, English-language libretto featuring characters from Shakespeare, and a starry cast including Danielle de Niese, Joyce DiDonato, David Daniels, Plácido Domingo, and Luca Pisaroni.
Angela Meade, Marcello Giodani, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Ferruccio Furlanetto star in Verdi’s Ernani.
Star soprano Anna Netrebko sings her first Met performances of the title role in Manon, Massenet’s opera about a country girl with conflicting desires for love and luxury who is drawn into a life of glamorous -- but hollow -- Parisian sophistication.
The concert features the BSO, Boston Pops Orchestra and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, under the direction of conductors John Williams, Keith Lockhart and Andris Nelsons. Performances by pianists Emanuel Ax and Peter Serkin, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and vocalist James Taylor.
THIRTEEN’s Great Performances will present 12-year-old classical crossover prodigy Jackie Evancho’s second television special Jackie Evancho: Music of the Movies.
Acclaimed French soprano Natalie Dessay makes her Met role debut as Violetta, the fallen woman who sacrifices her last chance for love, in Verdi’s La Traviata.
Under the baton of the dynamic and electric guest maestro, Gustavo Dudamel, the Vienna Philharmonic performs the finale of Amilcare Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours” from the opera “La Gioconda.”
Robert Lepage’s acclaimed new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.
2012
Paul McCartney’s Live Kisses captures the magical night of February 9 in the City of Angels when Paul McCartney decided to bring Kisses On The Bottom, his newly released collection of pop standards and two originals, to life.
Grammy Award®-winning, two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Rod Stewart, hosts his first holiday special featuring Mary J. Blige, Cee-Lo Green, and Chris Botti.
Magical Mystery Tour was chock-full of thinly veiled references to psychedelia, anarchy and fantasy, all in the setting of a traditional British sightseeing bus outing to the seaside. The story behind the Beatles film – Magical Mystery Tour – is revealed on Magical Mystery Tour Revisited.
We continue the cherished tradition of ringing in the New Year with special host Julie Andrews and the Vienna Philharmonic at the opulent Musikverein, under the baton of guest conductor Franz Welser-Möst and featuring everyone’s favorite Strauss Family waltzes accompanied by the beautiful dancing of the Vienna City Ballet.
This film explores the unique role of Jewish composers and lyricists in the creation of the modern American musical. Featuring interviews and conversations with some of the greatest composers and writers of the Broadway stage.
An epic journey following Paul Simon back to South Africa, where, decades earlier, he created his seminal album Graceland. The film includes revealing interviews with Simon and such musical legends as Quincy Jones, Harry Belafonte, Paul McCartney and David Byrne.
Star soprano Anna Netrebko takes center stage as Adina, the irresistible heroine of Gaetano Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love).
The Tempest, Robert Lepage’s Staging of the English-language Opera Based on Shakespeare’s Final Play.
La Clemenza di Tito, Mozart’s final opera seria, with Barbara Frittoli, Elīna Garanča, and Giuseppe Filianoti airs on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, April 14 at 12 noon on PBS.
The Met’s new production of Un Ballo in Maschera, Verdi's classic drama of political intrigue and thwarted romance.
Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening) makes his Met debut with a new production of Verdi’s Rigoletto. The new staging moves the opera’s tragic events from a decadent 16th-century Italian court to the glitzy, depraved setting of the Las Vegas strip circa 1960.
One of the most popular and beloved operas of all time, Aida, in a spectacular staging that captures the grandeur of Ancient Egypt.
Fabio Luisi conducts the five-act tragedy, which stars Deborah Voigt as Cassandra, Susan Graham as Dido, and Bryan Hymel as Aeneas.
Directed by veteran documentary filmmaker Ron Honsa, "Dancing at Jacob’s Pillow: Never Stand Still" reveals the passion, discipline, and daring of those who choose a life in dance. Performances filmed live at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, interviews with extraordinary artists, rare archival footage, and behind the scenes insights bring dance to life.
Jonas Kaufmann sings the title role in The Metropolitan Opera's new production of "Parsifal"
The works of Wagner and Verdi are featured in the beloved concert from Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace Gardens.
Eva-Maria Westbroek and Marcello Giordani star in Zandonai’s masterpiece Francesca da Rimini, the classic tale of doomed love,based on an episode from Dante’s Inferno.
David Daniels and Natalie Dessay star in David McVicar‘s innovative production of Handel’s most popular opera.
1987
2014
John Lithgow hosts a two-hour event with Grammy-, Emmy- and Tony-winning performers, along with co-host Jordin Sparks on September 13 at 8 pm, live from Baltimore's harbor. Performers celebrating the 200th anniversary of our national anthem include Kristin Chenoweth, Melissa Etheridge, Denyce Graves-Montgomery, Little Big Town, Pentatonix, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, and Train.
2023
Strauss’s grand Viennese comedy includes soprano Lise Davidsen as the aging Marschallin, opposite mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as her lover Octavian and soprano Erin Morley as Sophie, the beautiful younger woman who steals his heart. Bass Günther Groissböck returns as the churlish Baron Ochs, and Markus Brück is Sophie’s wealthy father, Faninal. Maestro Simone Young takes the Met podium to oversee Robert Carsen’s staging. Deborah Voigt hosts.
Musical salute to composer Jule Styne.
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek LIVE! – featuring an evening of classic jazz standards in both vocal duets and solo performances. Filmed at the Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, in front of a live audience of invited guests, many of whom were students involved in arts programs in New York City public schools.
This special encore presentation of the original 1998 broadcast of "Cats" on Great Performances. Let the "Memory" live again, but this time see Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical in high definition and digital sound!
Stage and screen legend Julie Andrews returns for the sixth time to host the festive annual New Year’s celebration with the Vienna Philharmonic, under the direction of Zubin Mehta, from Vienna’s Musikverein. The Vienna State Ballet dances to both the “Students Polka” and the “Wine, Women and Song Waltz” in the palatial main building of Vienna’s 650-year-old university.
World-renowned American opera singer Renée Fleming convenes a festival of special guests to celebrate the diverse range of America’s vocal artistry. Young artists receive mentoring from respected singers including Ben Folds, Dianne Reeves, Sutton Foster, Eric Owens, Kim Burrell and Alison Krauss. Also see performances by Josh Groban, Sara Bareilles and Norm Lewis.
The season nine premiere of Great Performances at the Met is Mozart’s elegant masterpiece of marital discord, Le Nozze di Figaro, conducted by Met Music Director James Levine and staged by Richard Eyre. Ildar Abdrazakov sings the title role, Marlis Petersen plays Figaro’s quick-witted bride-to-be, Susanna, and Peter Mattei is Count Almaviva.
Director Rupert Goold's gripping stage production of Macbeth, set in a nameless 20th-century militaristic society and starring Sir Patrick Stewart in his Tony-nominated performance as the ambitious general, and Kate Fleetwood as his coldly scheming wife, has been rethought in vivid filmic terms.
Acclaimed director Richard Eyre’s production of Carmen stars Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili in the title role of the seductive gypsy, a part she has sung to acclaim at many of the world’s leading opera houses. Aleksandrs Antonenko sings the obsessed soldier Don José. Pablo Heras-Casado conducts.
Conducted by Alan Gilbert, selections include music by Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone, Luis Bacalov, performed by the New York Philharmonic and featuring Joshua Bell, Renée Fleming and Josh Groban. The concert includes video projection with animated graphics and film clips related to the films La Dolce Vita, Cinema Paradiso, Once Upon a Time in the West, Il Postino and more.
Canadian born singer-songwriter Bryan Adams has been one of the most successful international performers in contemporary rock music, selling over 65 million records in a career that has spanned more than three decades. Filmed at Toronto’s Elgin Theater in July 2014, songs in this concert include “Here I Am,” “Summer of ‘69,” “Heaven,” and “Straight from the Heart.”
Rossini’s classic comedy Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) features some of the most instantly recognizable melodies in all of opera. The dynamic young cast includes Lawrence Brownlee; Isabel Leonard; and Christopher Maltman in his first Met performances of Figaro, the title barber whose skills extend far beyond hair-cutting.
Choreographer Mark Morris’s signature work comes to television for the first time, hosted by Mikhail Baryshnikov. Morris garnered international fame for this piece, set to George Frideric Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato with poetry by Milton. This performance was filmed July 2014 at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain.
The concert of her Grammy-nominated album features Lennox’s takes on iconic American compositions by such artists as Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Billie Holiday and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, as she pays tribute to some of the greatest artists of the 20th century.
James Levine leads Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (“The Master-Singer of Nuremberg”) in its first Great Performances at the Met broadcast. Michael Volle is the cobbler-poet Hans Sachs, starring with Johan Botha as Walther, Annette Dasch as Eva, Johannes Martin Kränzle as Beckmesser, Hans-Peter König as Pogner, Paul Appleby as David, and Karen Cargill as Magdalene. Renée Fleming hosts.
Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo stars as the tortured poet unlucky in love in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann on Great Performances at the Met. Offenbach based the opera on three stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann. The production is by Broadway director Bartlett Sher. Soprano Deborah Voigt hosts the broadcast.
The start of BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons’ tenure with the orchestra features two of the conductor’s close colleagues: his wife, the acclaimed Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais, and the outstanding German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, each singing selections from the Wagnerian and Italian verismo repertoires. The inaugural concert was filmed in September 2014.
The lavish new staging of Lehár’s effervescent operetta The Merry Widow is the Met debut of Broadway director and choreographer Susan Stroman. Soprano Renée Fleming adds a new character to her Met repertory as Hanna, the rich widow. Sir Andrew Davis conducts the cast that also includes baritone Nathan Gunn as Danilo; tenor Alek Shrader; baritone Sir Thomas Allen; and Broadway star Kelli O’Hara.
Polish film director Mariusz Treliński makes his Met debut with the new production, inspired by noir films of the 1940s. Valery Gergiev conducts the two rarely performed one-acts: Tchaikovsky’s lyrical fairy tale Iolanta and Bartók’s harrowing Bluebeard’s Castle. Iolanta stars Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala and Aleksei Markov. Bluebeard's Castle stars Nadja Michael and Mikhail Petrenko.
Alfred Uhry’s classic play is a searing, funny, and hopeful meditation on race relations in America, told through the complex relationship between two of popular culture’s most enduring characters. Daisy Werthan (Angela Lansbury) is a widowed, 72-year-old Jewish woman living in midcentury Atlanta, and Hoke Colburn (James Earl Jones) is an African American man who works as her chauffeur.
Natalie Portman hosts Dudamel Conducts a John Williams Celebration with the LA Phil on Great Performances. Itzhak Perlman is the special guest in a gala opening night concert paying tribute to the prolific film composer. The Los Angeles Philharmonic Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel conducts.
Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez headline Rossini’s bel canto tour-de-force "La Donna del Lago" on Great Performances at the Met (check local listings). Based on the work by Sir Walter Scott, DiDonato is Elena, the lady of the lake pursued by two men, with Flórez as Giacomo, the benevolent king of Scotland. Michele Mariotti conducts debuting Scottish director Paul Curran’s staging.
Led by guest conductor Zubin Mehta, the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic returns for its 12th open-air summer concert, this time with a distinctly Scandinavian flavor, in the magnificent gardens of Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace. The varied program includes favorites by Grieg, Sibelius and Lumbye. The concert soloist is the internationally acclaimed Austrian piano virtuoso Rudolf Buckbinder.
Sir David McVicar directs the first new Met production of the popular verismo double bill in 45 years: Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, both with Marcelo Álvarez as the male lead. Eva-Maria Westbroek and Patricia Racette also star. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the operas, both set in Sicily - one in a 1900 village square, the other at a 1948 truck stop. Check local listings.
Tony Award–winning director Ivo van Hove makes his Met debut with a new take on Mozart’s tragicomedy, re-setting the familiar tale of deceit and damnation in an abstract architectural landscape. Maestro Nathalie Stutzmann also makes her Met debut, conducting the cast led by baritone Peter Mattei in the title role alongside bass-baritone Adam Plachetka as Leporello. Sopranos Federica Lombardi, Ana María Martínez and Ying Fang portray Giovanni’s conquests—Donna Anna, Donna Elvira and Zerlina—and tenor Ben Bliss is Don Ottavio. Erin Morley hosts.
Captured in peak performance at Madrid’s Teatro Real, New York City Ballet performs two masterpieces choreographed by NYCB co-founder and original Artistic Director George Balanchine, “Serenade” and “Square Dance" as well as a piece by current resident choreographer Justin Peck.
Experience five-time Olivier Award nominee Kate Prince’s dance and theater show set to the songs of 17-time Grammy winner Sting. Telling the story of a migrant family, the show from London’s Sadler's Wells Theatre features a mix of dance styles.
Six-time Grammy Award–winning composer Terence Blanchard returns to the Met with an opera based on the true story of boxer Emile Griffith, who rose from obscurity to become a world champion despite being a closeted bisexual. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green stars as the young boxer, with bass-baritone Eric Owens as Griffith’s older self, haunted by the ghosts of his past. Soprano Latonia Moore also stars as Emelda Griffith, the boxer’s estranged mother, and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe plays the gay bar owner, Kathy Hagen. The production reunites the creative team from last season’s Great Performances at the Met: Fire Shut Up in My Bones, including conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, director James Robinson, and choreographer Camille A. Brown. Lawrence Brownlee hosts.
Celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, which saved 18 plays from being lost. Tracing the First Folio’s story, the film also spotlights how New York City’s Public Theater presents Shakespeare’s work for today’s audiences.
Experience director Simon McBurney’s Met debut with a new production of this Mozart favorite. Nathalie Stutzmann conducts with Lawrence Brownlee as Tamino, Erin Morley as Pamina, Thomas Oliemans as Papageno and Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night.
Celebrate the New Year with waltzes by Strauss and more performed from Vienna’s Musikverein by the famed orchestra led by guest conductor Christian Thielemann. PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville returns to host.
Experience Anthony Davis’s groundbreaking opera directed by Tony nominee Robert O’Hara. The new staging portrays Malcolm as an Everyman whose story transcends time and space. Supported by a cast of young Met stars, Will Liverman sings Malcolm X.
Celebrate 20 years at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the LA Phil in a tribute to its architect. Led by Gustavo Dudamel, the concert includes a piece composed and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, performances by Herbie Hancock and H.E.R., and more.
Honoring one of the most influential, storied and beloved country music icons in history, Great Performances – George Jones: Still Playin’ Possum is an all-star celebration. Jones’ hits including “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair,” “The Race Is On,” “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and many more are performed by Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Brad Paisley, Jelly Roll, Dierks Bentley, Sam Moore, Wynonna, Jamey Johnson, Uncle Kracker, Trace Adkins, Lorrie Morgan, Joe Nichols and other country stars accompanied by a band of Nashville’s top players. Recorded April 25, 2023, at from the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the tribute marked the 10th anniversary of Jones’ passing.
A three-act comedic stage play tells the fictional story of Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson, a dynamic traveling preacher returning to his hometown in rural Georgia, to save his small hometown church. The Performance was filmed at the Music Box Theatre on January 23rd, 2024 with the original 2023 Broadway cast.
2013
Witness Ben Whishaw’s performance as Richard in this television adaptation of Shakespeare’s play.
Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston star in the Shakespeare's history play.
Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston star in Shakespeare's history play.
Henry V has settled onto the throne and has the makings of a fine King. The French Ambassador brings a challenge from the French Dauphin. Inspired by his courtiers, including Exeter and York, Henry swears that he will, with all force, answer this challenge. The Chorus tells of England’s preparations for war and Henry’s army sails for France. After Exeter’s diplomacy is rebuffed by the French King, Henry lays a heavy siege and captures Harfleur. The French now take Henry’s claims seriously and challenge the English army to battle at Agincourt. Henry and his meager forces prove victorious against all odds.
In celebration of the series’ 40th anniversary on PBS, a stellar roster of diverse alumni gather to share their stories of what the series has meant to them, with reminiscences and performances by Julie Andrews, Audra McDonald, Don Henley, David Hyde Pierce, Josh Groban, Itzhak Perlman, Peter Martins, Patti Austin and Take 6, Elīna Garanča, and Michael Bublé.
Composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer’s award-winning opera Moby-Dick will be broadcast on THIRTEEN’s Great Performances Friday, November 1, 2013 at 9 p.m. Jay Hunter Morris stars as the obsessive Captain Ahab in Leonard Foglia’s multimedia production with the San Francisco Opera.
The New York Philharmonic’s concert staging of Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning musical Company includes the all-star cast of Craig Bierko, Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Katie Finneran, Neil Patrick Harris, Christina Hendricks, Adam Lazar, Patti LuPone, Jill Paice, Martha Plimpton, Anika Noni Rose, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jim Walton, and Chryssie Whitehead.
Directed by Sir Trevor Nunn, and choreographed by Susan Stroman, the acclaimed Royal National Theatre production starring Hugh Jackman in his breakout role as cowpoke Curly reveals the work’s emotional complexity with a fresh approach. The special encore telecast is presented for the first time in high definition.
The legendary Barbra Streisand makes a historic homecoming to Brooklyn at the new Barclays Center arena, marking the superstar’s first Brooklyn concert since her childhood years.
This one-hour program airing in late November and December is dedicated to the great tenor, Luciano Pavarotti. It includes his performances of “Nessun Dorma” and other beloved arias from La Boheme, Rigoletto and Aida. See Pavarotti in some of his finest performances and in duet with Sting, Bono, Eric Clapton, and The Three Tenors.
Julie Andrews hosts this annual New Year's Day celebration with the Vienna Philharmonic. Daniel Barenboim conducts a program of melodies by the Strauss family and their contemporaries. The City Palace (Stadtpalais Liechtenstein), which has returned to all its former glory after a renovation, is the setting for both of the Vienna State Ballet’s interludes featuring costumes by Vivienne Westwood.
Tchaikovsky’s romantic tragedy Eugene Onegin, starring Anna Netrebko, Mariusz Kwiecien, and Piotr Beczala, is the season premiere of THIRTEEN’s Great Performances at the Met. This past fall, Anna Netrebko opened her third consecutive Met season — which will mark her ninth Great Performances at the Met broadcast — in her company role debut as Tatiana, the naïve heroine from Pushkin’s classic novel.
John Barrymore (Christopher Plummer) banters with his line prompter Frank before beginning a rehearsal of "Richard III," in which he tries to remember the lines that once made him famous.
The National Theatre in London celebrates its 50th anniversary with a cast of theater legends, including Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Judi Dench, Benedict Cumberbatch, Derek Jacobi, Helen Mirren, Michael Gambon, Penelope Wilton and more.
Watch highlights from Sting's live performance of "The Last Ship" at the Public Theater in New York City. The 16-time Grammy Award-winning musician and his band perform songs from his new album, "The Last Ship," and from the forthcoming play of the same name in an intimate evening of music and storytelling.
William Kentridge‘s dazzlingly innovative production of Shostakovich’s shocking, unconventional opera about a beleaguered Russian official and his runaway nose stars Tony Award winner Paulo Szot as Kovalyov, a bureaucrat who awakes one morning to discover that his nose has run away.
Rock & roll royalty Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers) and Boz Scaggs join forces as their own new super group The Dukes of September, paying tribute to the R&B and soul music that inspired them along with fresh, exciting performances of some of their greatest hits.
See Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers, featuring Edie Brickell, in their first-ever live concert performance to be broadcast on television. Check back for the March 2014 air date. The evening of Martin’s unique blend of comedy and bluegrass took place at the historic Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside, California in the fall of 2013.
Great Performances presents a special encore of highlights from 1992’s star-studded concert tribute to Bob Dylan, the American pop music icon, at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The concert gathered an amazing Who’s Who of performers to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the enigmatic singer-songwriter’s groundbreaking debut album from 1962, "Bob Dylan."
Tosca, Puccini’s favorite opera, stars an exceptional trio of singing actors. Acclaimed American soprano Patricia Racette plays the ultimate diva, Floria Tosca, in Luc Bondy‘s production. French tenor Roberto Alagna sings Tosca’s lover, the painter Cavaradossi, and Georgian baritone George Gagnidze is the corrupt, lustful Scarpia.
In the 1960s, the British band The Dave Clark Five achieved a record-breaking 15 consecutive Top 20 U.S. hit singles within two-years — more than any other group in the world except the Beatles. Footage of iconic performances on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick and more round out the two-hour film.
Verdi’s brilliant final opera, "Falstaff," is conducted by Metropolitan Opera Music Director James Levine in his first Great Performances at the Met in nearly two years. With Ambrogio Maestri, Angela Meade and Stephanie Blythe, this is the first new Met production of "Falstaff" in 50 years.
Leo's kiss of true love breaks the curse that has held Princess Aurora (Hannah Vassallo) under its spell. After 100 years of sleep, Aurora discovers Leo (Dominic North) has been transformed in order to have eternal life and reunite with her.
Renée Fleming sings one of her signature roles, the title character in Dvořák's Rusalka, an opera about a water spirit's tragic romance with a prince. The story is drawn partly from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid." Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads a cast that includes Piotr Beczala; Dolora Zajick; Emily Magee; and John Relyea as Rusalka's father, the Water Sprite.
Borodin's Russian epic Prince Igor, performed by the Met for the first time in nearly 100 years. The acclaimed new production by director Dmitri Tcherniakov, in his Met debut, stars Ildar Abdrazakov as the title character, a 12th-century ruler who defended Russia against invading Polovtsian forces.
Franco Zeffirelli’s production of La Bohème, the most-performed opera in Met history, starring Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo and Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais. Opolais made headlines when she made her company role debut as Mimì with a few hours notice, having sung the title role in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly the night before.
Tenor Jonas Kaufmann stars as the tortured poet in the Met’s new production of Jules Massenet’s Werther on Great Performances at the Met. Sophie Koch, a leading interpreter of the role Charlotte, plays opposite Kaufmann after their prior appearances together in Paris and Vienna in same roles.
The acclaimed outdoor performance celebrating the 200th anniversary of Verdi’s birth is interspersed with archival footage and features Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and internationally acclaimed soloists Julianna Di Giacomo, Michelle DeYoung, Vittorio Grigolo and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo.
Led for the first time by a guest conductor Christoph Eschenbach, the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic returns for their 11th open-air concert in the magnificent gardens of Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace. The concert, featuring piano virtuoso Lang Lang and symphonic poems by Berlioz and Richard Strauss.
James Levine conducts Mozart’s romance Così fan tutte, a comic opera about the complications that ensue when two friends decide to test their fiancées’ fidelity. Rising Met stars include Susanna Phillips and Isabel Leonard as the sisters; Matthew Polenzani and Rodion Pogossov as their fiancés; and Danielle de Niese as their maid.
Legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman and celebrated cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot join forces for a musical exploration of liturgical and traditional works in new arrangements for both chamber orchestra and klezmer settings. The music of “Rejoice” showcases the confluences between the violinist’s famed classical technique and Helfgot’s magnificent voice.
Joyce DiDonato sings the title role in Rossini’s Cinderella story, La Cenerentola, with bel canto master Juan Diego Flórez as her prince. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads a cast that also includes Pietro Spagnoli as the servant Dandini, Alessandro Corbelli as Cenerentola’s stepfather Don Magnifico, and Luca Pisaroni as Don Ramiro’s tutor, Alidoro.
2016
In collaboration with The Recording Academy, Great Performances presents “GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends,” a special all-star concert offering a primetime spotlight for The Academy’s 2016 Special Merit Awards recipients. The celebration and tribute concert features rare performances by honorees and never-before-seen renditions by those they’ve inspired.
A behind-the-scenes look at Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical Hamilton, coming to Great Performances as part of the 2016 PBS Arts Fall Festival.
Jonathan Kent’s award-winning production of the classic musical Gypsy – a record-breaking sellout during its acclaimed London run – comes to THIRTEEN’s Great Performances, Friday, November 11 at 9 p.m. on PBS on the PBS Arts Fall Festival.
The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses with an all-star cast including Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Sturridge, Sophie Okonedo, Keeley Hawes, Hugh Bonneville, Judi Dench & Michael Gambon. It airs on three consecutive Sundays beginning December 11 at 9 p.m. and picks up the story with epic film versions of Henry VI (in two parts) and Richard III.
Henry IV Part 2 is the second of three parts in The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses. Bitter rivalries erupt into the Wars of the Roses. The feeble King Henry is overshadowed by Queen Margaret and her faction of Lancastrian Lords, his reign further undermined by disaffected nobles supporting the House of York. Battle and bloodshed ensue.
The star-studded Shakespeare Live! from the Royal Shakespeare Company salutes the Bard across multiple genres. This celebratory event, hosted by David Tennant and Catherine Tate, features Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Rufus Wainwright, Joseph Fiennes, and many more.
Richard III is the third of three parts in The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses. Richard III, the most notorious of Shakespeare’s kings, manipulates his way through the court on a ruthless path to the throne. But after Richard’s defeat at the battle of Bosworth Field, the Houses of Lancaster and York unite, bringing the Wars of the Roses and a tumultuous period of civil strife to an end.
Stage and screen legend Julie Andrews returns for the eighth time to host the festive annual New Year's celebration with the Vienna Philharmonic, under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel, from Vienna's Musikverein. The Vienna Philharmonic and soloists of the Vienna State Ballet return for the beloved annual tradition against the joyful backdrop of the scenic city.
Bel Canto the Opera from Lyric Opera of Chicago Comes to Great Performances. Lyric’s creative consultant, soprano Renée Fleming, hosts the opera, which she curated from its inception.
The series premieres with a native New Yorker from Hell’s Kitchen, Grammy Award-winning artist, Alicia Keys. Her collaboration with Jay Z, “Empire State of Mind,” instantly became the City’s newest anthem. In this debut Landmarks Live special recorded over a one-year period, Alicia’s love affair with New York continues as she performs in notable locations all around the city.
Country music superstar Brad Paisley returns to his roots in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains for a special outdoor concert at West Virginia University. As the hit-maker behind 23 number one singles and the winner of just about every Country music award imaginable, Brad brings his unique skills as a singer songwriter, guitarist and entertainer back to his home state.
The Met’s new production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle in his first Met performances since his 2010 debut, opens the new season of Great Performances at the Met, Sunday, January 29 at 12 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). Nina Stemme and Stuart Skelton star in The Met’s new production of Tristan und Isolde.
New York City Ballet in Paris is the part one of a two-part special featuring four ballets by NYCB co-founder George Balanchine set to the music of French composers. The program opens with Gounod's Walpurgisnacht Ballet and culminates with Ravel's La Valse. Both programs are hosted by NYCB Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins.
Charismatic baritone Simon Keenlyside stars as the title character in Don Giovanni, bringing his acclaimed interpretation of the role to Great Performances at the Met for the first time. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi conducts Tony Award-winner Michael Grandage’s staging of Mozart’s masterpiece.
New York City Ballet Symphony in C is part two of a two-part special featuring four ballets by NYCB co-founder George Balanchine set to the music of French composers. Symphony in C opens with Ravel's Sonatine. Bizet's Symphony in C is the finale of the two-part special. Both programs are hosted by NYCB Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins.
Gustavo Dudamel accents the colors, rhythms, and passion of music by leading composers from Argentina in this invigorating evening under the stars on Dudamel Conducts Tangos Under the Stars with the LA Phil — recorded at the Hollywood Bowl in August.
Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin (“Love From Afar”), one of the most highly praised operas of recent years.
Young Men, a World War I-inspired feature-length dance film commemorating the Great War’s centennial. Young Men was filmed on location in Northern France with the BalletBoyz dance company.
Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo star as the tragic lovers in Shakespeare’s classic story. Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.
The legendary Plácido Domingo brings another new baritone role to the Met as the title king in Nabucco, under the baton of his longtime collaborator James Levine.
Kristine Opolais stars in her first Met performance as the title character in Antonin Dvořák's Rusalka. The critically acclaimed new staging, directed by Mary Zimmerman and conducted by Mark Elder.
Andrea Bocelli – Landmarks Live in Concert continues the new Landmarks arts strand. Each Landmarks Live in Concert special features an artist or band performing at a legendary destination of personal significance. The series is hosted by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, who conducts one-on-one interviews with the artists.
Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts an extraordinary ensemble in Idomeneo, Mozart’s early masterpiece of love and vengeance following the Trojan War.
Anna Netrebko stars as Tatiana, the naïve heroine of Tchaikovsky’s opera, with Peter Mattei as the title character who rejects her. Alexey Dolgov is Onegin’s friend-turned-rival, Lenski, with Elena Maximova as Tatiana’s sister, Olga, and Štefan Kocán as Prince Gremin. Robin Ticciati conducts.
The world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic returns for its 14th open-air concert, in Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace Gardens. Christoph Eschenbach conducts a varied program of works from “Sleeping Beauty” to “Hansel and Gretel” to “Harry Potter.”
Sonya Yoncheva reprises her widely praised interpretation of the heroine Violetta Valéry in Verdi’s La Traviata, on Great Performances at the Met. Michael Fabiano is her lover, Alfredo, Thomas Hampson, in one of his most acclaimed Met roles, returns as Alfredo’s protective father, Giorgio Germont. San Francisco Opera Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts.
Renée Fleming performs one of her greatest signature roles, The Marschallin, in Der Rosenkavalier on the season finale of Great Performances at the Met. Elīna Garanča plays Octavian, the impulsive young title character. The opera was conducted by Sebastian Weigle and directed by Robert Carsen.
2017
Great Performances and Latino Public Broadcasting’s VOCES present Havana Time Machine on Friday October 6 at 9PM on PBS. Singer Raul Malo of The Mavericks explores his Cuban heritage in this breakthrough performance documentary. Eliades Ochoa, Ivette Cepeda, Roberto Fonseca, and the Sweet Lizzy Project join the music star in an historical and musical journey through present-day Cuba.
In collaboration with the Recording Academy®, Great Performances presents Grammy Salute To Music Legends 2017®, the second annual all-star concert offering a spotlight for the Academy’s 2017 Special Merit Awards recipients. The celebration, led by Paul Shaffer as musical director, was recorded at New York’s Beacon Theatre.
The celebrated score features favorites such as “Vanilla Ice Cream,” “A Romantic Atmosphere,” “Dear Friend,” and “She Loves Me.” The musical is based on a play by Miklos Laszlo, whose well-known romantic story was the basis for the 1940 James Stewart film “The Shop Around the Corner,” the 1949 Judy Garland and Van Johnson musical “In the Good Old Summertime,” and the 1998 Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan film “You’ve Got Mail.”
Noël Coward’s Present Laughter follows a self-obsessed actor in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Juggling his considerable talent, ego and libido, the theater’s favorite leading man suddenly finds himself caught between fawning ingénues, crazed playwrights, secret trysts and unexpected twists.
In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams chronicles the personal stories of composer/lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of In the Heights in the months leading up to its 2008 opening night.
Multi-Grammy-winning rock band Foo Fighters delivers an electrifying, historic performance at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, in the latest installment of Landmarks Live in Concert for GREAT PERFORMANCES. Captured this past July, Foo Fighters – Landmarks Live in Concert: A Great Performances Special premieres nationwide Friday, November 10 at 10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).
The Tony Award-winning play Indecent comes to Great Performances on Friday, November 17 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) as part of the fall Broadway’s Best lineup.
The festive Roundabout Theatre Company production of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn - The Broadway Musical comes to PBS. The musical continues the Great Performances marathon within the Broadway’s Best lineup on PBS.
The Moody Blues: Days of Future Passed Live from Great Performances premieres nationwide beginning November 25 on PBS (check local listings). Celebrating the 50th anniversary of their landmark album, The Moody Blues took to the road to perform the entire LP live.
David Foster has generated some of the biggest hits in popular music, and collaborated with a veritable “Who’s Who” of superstars in a career spanning more than three decades. In this special encore presentation, Foster’s achievements, including 14 Grammy Awards, are celebrated in an all-star concert.
Great Performances continues the cherished tradition of ringing in the new year with the Vienna Philharmonic with Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music Director Riccardo Muti. This year’s program welcomes new host Hugh Bonneville, best known as Robert, Earl of Grantham, in Downton Abbey. From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2018 premieres Monday, January 1, 2018 at 2:30PM EST(check local listings).
Great Performances at the Met Season 12 begins with a new production of Bellini’s masterpiece about a woman scorned, conducted by Carlo Rizzi. Norma stars Sondra Radvanovsky as the titlular druid high priestess, opposite Joyce DiDonato and Joseph Calleja. Great Performances at the Met: Norma premieres nationwide Friday, January 26 at 9PM on PBS (check local listings).
Two decades after the album’s critically acclaimed release, Nas teamed up with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, to stage a symphonic rendition of “Illmatic,” one of the most revered albums in hip-hop history. Great Performances — Nas Live From the Kennedy Center: Classical Hip-Hop premieres Friday, February 2 at 9PM on PBS (check local listings).
This year’s 17th annual Movies for Grownups® Awards with AARP the Magazine will be broadcast for the first time ever. Co-produced by Great Performances, the awards premiere Friday, February 23 at 9PM on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps. Award-winning film and stage actor Alan Cumming hosted the star-studded evening at the Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills on February 5.
Season 12 of Great Performances at the Met continues on PBS on Sunday, March 25, with the American premiere of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, a surreal fantasy about a dinner party from which the guests can’t escape. The Exterminating Angel was inspired by the classic Luis Buñuel film of the same name, and stars John Tomlinson and Alice Coote. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham is the host.
International superstar will.i.am performs from London’s historic Royal Albert Hall in a one-night-only concert event. The award-winning artist, writer and producer reunites with members of the Black Eyed Peas plus special guests Pia Mia, Eva Simons and Lydia Lucy. Will.i.am and Friends Featuring the Black Eyed - Landmarks Live in Concert premieres April 20 at 10PM on PBS (check local listings).
Donizetti’s comedy charms with Pretty Yende as Adina and Matthew Polenzani as Nemorino. The poor country boy Nemorino wins the love of wealthy and beautiful Adina with the help of a magic elixir. Susanna Phillips hosts.
See the classic Puccini opera starring Sonya Yoncheva as Mimì and Michael Fabiano as Rodolfo. In 1830s Paris, the budding romances of two couples are tested by jealousy, poverty and illness. Marco Armiliato conducts.
Explore the rich history of the Met Opera’s Lincoln Center home and the cultural life of 1950s-60s New York City. Features famed soprano Leontyne Price, the Met’s general manager Rudolf Bing, city planner Robert Moses and architect Wallace Harrison.
Sonya Yoncheva and Vittorio Grigolo sing Tosca and Cavaradossi’s Act I duet in the final dress rehearsal.
THIRTEEN’s Great Performances and Pacific Symphony, led by music director Carl St.Clair, pay tribute to America’s history with a performance of composer Peter Boyer’s “Ellis Island: The Dream of America,” a Grammy-nominated contemporary classical work celebrating the historic American immigrant experience.
Experience Rossini’s masterpiece starring Angela Meade as Queen Semiramide and Elizabeth DeShong as Arsace, the Queen’s fiancé and her own son. Javier Camarena, Ildar Abdrazakov and Ryan Speedo Green complete the cast. Maurizio Benini conducts.
Enjoy a new production of Mozart’s comedy of the sexes set in 1950s Coney Island. Stars Kelli O’Hara, Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Ben Bliss, Adam Plachetka and Christopher Maltman. David Robertson conducts.
Celebrate Chicago’s vibrant music culture with performances by Renée Fleming, Broadway’s Jessie Mueller, rap artist Lupe Fiasco, folk legend John Prine, pop and gospel singer Michelle Williams and more.
Experience Verdi’s heart-wrenching opera with Plácido Domingo as Miller, and Sonya Yoncheva in the title role opposite tenor Piotr Beczała as Rodolfo. Conducted by Bertrand de Billy. Anthony Roth Costanzo hosts.
Enjoy the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic’s annual open-air concert from Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace, featuring conductor Valery Gergiev and internationally acclaimed soprano Anna Netrebko as a guest soloist.
With this new special, Great Performances puts the spotlight on Botti and his band, capturing one of today’s leading jazz trumpeters at his peak.
Experience Massenet’s Cinderella with Joyce DiDonato in the title role, Alice Coote as Prince Charming, Kathleen Kim as the Fairy Godmother, and Stephanie Blythe as Madame de la Haltière. Bertrand de Billy conducts Laurent Pelly’s production.
2019
Join Scott Yoo, renowned violinist and conductor of the Mexico City Philharmonic, in Now Hear This, a new four-part documentary miniseries presented by Great Performances that merges music, storytelling, travel and culture, as he chases the secret histories of some of the greatest music ever written.
Scott Yoo goes to Germany to learn Bach’s sonatas and partitas, widely considered among the greatest works ever written for solo violin. There, Yoo discovers a riddle Bach left behind in his portrait. In trying to solve it, Yoo and his wife, leading flutist Alice Dade, discover that Bach based his melodic style on Vivaldi and his rhythms on the music of the French court.
Join Scott Yoo in Spain and Morocco to discover the greatest composer you’ve never heard of: Domenico Scarlatti. He was the finest keyboard player in Europe, hired by the Queen of Spain as her personal instructor. Into Vivaldi’s melodies and Bach’s fugues, Scarlatti incorporated the sounds of Spain – Moorish, Jewish, Gypsy, folk, dance and guitar – to create a new musical language.
Before becoming the most famous composer of his time, Handel gained a lifetime of experience in Italy. Welcomed by wealthy patrons, he traveled with the Scarlatti family and learned from Corelli and the masters of the Italian Style. Yoo returns to Italy to follow in Handel’s footsteps, taking in the art, architecture, fashion, food, wine, light and landscape.
In collaboration with the Recording Academy™, Great Performances presents GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends®, the fourth annual all-star concert offering a primetime spotlight for the Recording Academy’s 2019 Special Merit Awards recipients.
The 1981 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, 42nd Street is the song-and-dance, American dream fable of Broadway, featuring the iconic songs “42nd Street,” “We’re In the Money,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Shuffle Off To Buffalo,” “I Only Have Eyes For You” and many more.
Kelli O’Hara and Ken Watanabe star in a Tony Award-winning revival of the beloved musical about a British schoolteacher instructing the royal children of the King of Siam, featuring classic songs including “Shall We Dance?" and “Hello, Young Lovers.”
Under the watchful gaze of his young assistant—and the growing competitive presence of a new generation of artists—Rothko takes on his greatest career challenge yet: to create a definitive series of paintings for the Philip Johnson-designed Four Seasons restaurant in architect Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Seagram Building.
For the first time in over four decades, Great Performances presents a Public Theater production recorded live at Free Shakespeare in the Park. After a highly successful, critically acclaimed run at the outdoor Delacorte Theater in New York City’s Central Park, "Much Ado About Nothing" is a bold interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedic masterpiece featuring Danielle Brooks as Beatrice.
Rejoice with the Tony Award-winning high-heeled hit musical with songs by pop icon Cyndi Lauper and a book by Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein about an unexpected duo that embraces their differences to create an extraordinary line of shoes.
Judas, as played by Brandon Victor Dixon, wows with dance moves and an unforgettable rendition of "Superstar."
Enjoy a star-studded concert with celebrated 16-time GRAMMY Award winner David Foster as he explores the music of his career with guest artists Loren Allred, Pia Toscano, Fernando Varela, Sheléa, Katharine McPhee and more.
Celebrate 2020 with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Musikverein. Under the baton of guest conductor Andris Nelsons and featuring the Vienna State Ballet, the orchestra will play the waltzes of Strauss. PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville returns as host.
Manon prepares to enter a convent when she's struck by love at first sight with Chevalier des Grieux. It's unclear if he can hold her attention when her true loves are wealth and glamour.
Watch actors and filmmakers as they are honored for creating films that resonate with older viewers in this star-studded awards ceremony. Celebrating movies that matter, the Awards champion movies for grownups, by grownups.
Soprano Hui He plays the tragic title role with tenor Bruce Sledge as the naval officer who abandons her in Puccini’s classic masterpiece. Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts Anthony Minghella’s sweeping production.
In an ancient mythical China, three riddles dictate who wins Turandot's heart and who loses their lives. Calàf is one of many to take on the challenge.
Experience composer Philip Glass’ visionary masterpiece portraying the impact of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhnaten as he rises to the throne. Stars Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role. Karen Kamensek conducts.
Experience iconic Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli in an Easter Sunday concert from Milan’s historic cathedral. With the city under lockdown due to COVID-19, the singer performs “Ave Maria,” “Amazing Grace” and more accompanied only by an organist.
Experience artist William Kentridge’s interpretation of Berg’s tragic opera set in an apocalyptic pre-World War I environment. Peter Mattei stars in the title role. Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
Celebrate the centennial of this landmark orchestra with “La Valse” by Ravel, Stravinsky’s “Firebird” and more led by three renowned LA Phil conductors: Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and current music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel.
Enjoy Ravinia Festival’s production of Leonard Bernstein’s musical starring Tony Award-winning baritone Paulo Szot and featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra artistic director Marin Alsop conducts.
Experience Handel’s black comedy of intrigue and impropriety in this production from David McVicar set in the present. Joyce DiDonato stars as the cunning title character with Harry Bicket at the baton.
Enjoy a powerful and revealing look at legendary, larger-than-life Texas governor Ann Richards who enriched the lives of her followers, friends and family in this critically acclaimed play written by and starring Emmy Award-winner Holland Taylor.
Experience playwright Emily Mann’s unique interpretation of feminist icon Gloria Steinem’s life, performed by an all-female cast starring Emmy Award winner Christine Lahti and directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus.
Experience Wagner’s eerie early masterpiece telling the tale of the sea captain cursed to sail for eternity. François Girard’s new production stars Evgeny Nikitin in the title role opposite Anja Kampe in her Met debut. Valery Gergiev conducts.
Enjoy this classic American folk opera that brings 1920s Charleston to life with a beloved score from George Gershwin in a new production directed by James Robinson. Eric Owens and Angel Blue star in the title roles and David Robertson conducts.
Sir David McVicar’s new production of Puccini’s classic stars Sonya Yoncheva, Vittorio Grigolo and Željko Lučić. Opera diva Tosca must rescue her revolutionary lover Cavaradossi from the depraved police chief Scarpia. Isabel Leonard hosts.
The first-ever Met production of Donizetti’s opera stars Joyce DiDonato as Mary, Queen of Scots with South African soprano Elza van den Heever as Elizabeth I, Mary’s formidable rival, and Matthew Polenzani as the Earl of Leicester.
Enjoy the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of selections by Strauss, Wagner, Offenbach, Puccini and more from the Schönbrunn Palace Gardens under the baton of conductor Valery Gergiev featuring Metropolitan Opera tenor Jonas Kaufmann.
2022
Explore Shakespeare’s love life through the perspective of the “Dark Lady” in this work from Nashville Ballet based on poetry by Caroline Randall Williams and featuring an original score by GRAMMY winner Rhiannon Giddens. TV-14
Experience the story of seamstress Esther who begins writing to a mysterious suitor laboring on the Panama Canal. Featuring music by Ricky Ian Gordon, a libretto by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, this powerful opera is directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher. TV-14
Soprano Nadine Sierra returns to the stage in one of the most formidable and storied roles, the haunted heroine Lucia di Lammermoor, in a production with new staging by Australian theater and film director Simon Stone, conducted by Riccardo Frizza.
Experience this contemporary opera based on Shakespeare’s masterpiece directed by Neil Armfield and composed by Brett Dean. Starring Allan Clayton in the title role, mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly as Gertrude, and baritone Rod Gilfry as Claudius.
Celebrate the New York Philharmonic's return to its revitalized home. Under the baton of Music Director Jaap Van Zweden the concert features performances from soloists Joélle Harvey, Kelley O’Connor, Issachah Savage and Davóne Tines. TV-G
Get a sneak peek at the concert from Radio City, featuring clips from "The Impossible Dream" and "The Fullest." TV-G
Celebrate the new year with this annual classical music celebration featuring waltzes by Strauss from the opulent Musikverein hosted by PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville.
Iconic and beloved screen and stage performer Alan Cumming returns as host for this awards show in which two-time Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee Jamie Lee Curtis receives the Career Achievement Award. TV-14
Glimpse behind the curtain at opera legends Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman’s famed concert at Carnegie Hall on March 18, 1990, featuring performance clips and new interviews with opera star Angel Blue, Met Opera General Manager Peter Gelb and more. TV-G
Experience Academy Award nominee David Strathairn as reluctant World War II hero and Holocaust witness, Jan Karski, in this one-man true story of moral courage and individual responsibility. TV-14
Renée Fleming makes her return to the Met with Kelli O'Hara and Joyce DiDonato in this new opera from a Pulitzer Prize–winning composer inspired by Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway.”
Nadine Sierra stars as the opera’s heroine, the self-sacrificing courtesan Violetta, with tenor Stephen Costello in the role of her self-centered lover, Alfredo, with baritone Luca Salsi as Alfredo’s disapproving father. Michael Mayer’s vibrant production is conducted by Daniele Callegari. Renée Fleming hosts.
Tango to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with host Scott Yoo and flutist Alice Dade to explore the evolution of composer Astor Piazzolla’s work and the music genre itself as it becomes fused with jazz across time and numerous instruments.
Visit Scotland, Germany and France with host Scott Yoo as he investigates the connection between Robert Schumann’s bipolar disorder and creative genius via experts, musical performances and examining the work of other artists outside world of music.
Composer Andy Akiho explains to host Scott Yoo how living in New York City shaped his composing and performs his piece “Aka.”
Discover the inspirations Spain provided composer Isaac Albéniz with host Scott Yoo and Scottish GRAMMY-winning guitarist David Russell along with musicians from Albéniz’s birthplace in the Pyrenees mountains as well as Sevilla, Mallorca and more.
Back at the Met for the first time in 25 years, Umberto Giordano’s drama stars soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the title role, a 19th-century Russian princess who falls in love with her fiancé’s murderer, Count Loris, sung by star tenor Piotr Beczała. Soprano Rosa Feola is the Countess Olga, Fedora’s confidant, and baritone Artur Ruciński is the diplomat De Siriex.
Enjoy a revue of milestone Broadway shows and songs from 1973 to 2023 hosted by two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster. Features performances by André De Shields, Chita Rivera, Vanessa Williams and more from Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater.
Starring Danai Gurira (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “The Walking Dead”) in the title role with Tony Award winner Ali Stroker (“Oklahoma!”) as Anne, Tony Award nominee Robert O’Hara (Broadway’s “Slave Play”) directs this Shakespearean tragedy spotlighting one of The Bard’s most indelible villains as part of Great Performances’ 50th anniversary season.
Great Performances at the Met raises the curtain on Medea with opera star Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role as the mythic sorceress who stops at nothing in her quest for vengeance. This production marks Radvanovsky’s fourth new production with director David McVicar, who also designed the sets for this staging. Based on Euripides’ famous play, Medea takes place in the ancient Greek city of Corinth, a locale once wealthy and sophisticated. Projections and a large mirror above the stage help illustrate how her choices reflect the collapse of her family, as the man she loves rejects her, and her children become her only outlet for revenge.
Back at the Met after 17 years, this production of Wagner’s opera is directed by François Girard with Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting. Tenor Piotr Beczała leads the cast in the title role of the mysterious swan knight, with soprano Tamara Wilson as the virtuous duchess Elsa, falsely accused of murder, and soprano Christine Goerke as the cunning sorceress Ortrud. Bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin is Ortrud’s power-hungry husband, Telramund, and bass Günther Groissböck is King Heinrich. Christopher Maltman hosts.
Verdi’s Shakespearean comedy features an ensemble cast in Robert Carsen’s staging, with baritone Michael Volle performing in his first Verdi role at the Met as the knight Falstaff, tormented by a trio of clever women who deliver his comeuppance. Reuniting after their acclaimed turns in the production’s 2019 run are soprano Ailyn Pérez as Alice Ford, soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano as Meg Page, and mezzo-soprano Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Mistress Quickly. Soprano Hera Hyesang Park and tenor Bogdan Volkov are the young couple Nannetta and Fenton, and Maestro Daniele Rustioni conducts. Ryan Speedo Green hosts.
Performed from Highland Park’s Ravinia Festival, Great Performances presents legendary composer Leonard Bernstein’s Kaddish symphony featuring the talent of Uniting Voices (formerly Chicago Children’s Choir), Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Led by famed conductor and Bernstein protégé Marin Alsop, the work includes music and spoken narrative segments voiced by narrator Jaye Ladymore (“Chicago Med”) and sung by soprano soloist Janai Brugger (Great Performances at the Met: Medea). Recorded July 2022, the symphony examines questions of humanity and faith, exploring the complicated nature of a higher power who governs mortality.
A beloved summer tradition, Great Performances presents the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s summer night concert from Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace Gardens. Focusing on musical works from French Romanticism to Impressionism, the orchestra is led for the first time by Metropolitan Opera music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and features Elīna Garanča as a soloist performing three arias from “Carmen,” “Sapho” and “Samson et Dalila.” Also performed for the first time is a composition by Lili Boulanger, the first female winner of the prestigious Prix de Rome for her work in 1913.
2018
Enjoy an all-star concert honoring Neil Diamond, Tina Turner, Queen, film composer John Williams, New Orleans funk band The Meters and other recipients of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement, Trustee and Music Educator awards.
Experience one of the most famous musicals of all time with a celebrated new adaptation featuring the original Tony Award-nominated stars Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope. The acclaimed production was directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon.
Beloved by generations of audiences worldwide, “The Sound of Music” tells the inspiring true story of the von Trapp Family Singers and their escape from Austria during the rise of Nazism. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1959 hit stage musical garnered five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and the blockbuster 1965 movie adaptation won five Oscars, including Best Picture. Great Performances presents the 2015 live U.K. broadcast version starring Kara Tointon as Maria, Julian Ovenden as Captain von Trapp, Katherine Kelley as Baroness Schraeder, Alexander Armstrong as Max, and Maria Friedman as the Mother Abbess. Cinematically photographed on adjoining sound stages, the production offers a more naturalistic interpretation of this great classic of the American musical theater. Among the many classic songs featured in the score are “The Sound of Music,” “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Climb Every Mountain,” “Edelweiss” and more.
Go behind-the-scenes of John Leguizamo’s Tony-nominated one-man show, Latin History for Morons, a comic but pointed look at how Hispanic culture has been portrayed and repressed throughout American history.
Take a peek into the legendary career of the pioneering Broadway producer and director and winner of 21 Tony Awards with this retrospective celebration featuring Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Mandy Patinkin, John Kander, Susan Stroman, and Angela Lansbury.
Join Tony Bennett and Diana Krall as they celebrate the American Songbook classics of George and Ira Gershwin, performing favorites from their Billboard #1 jazz album, “Love is Here to Stay,” such as “I Got Rhythm,” “Love is Here to Stay” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”
Experience superstar singer Michael Bublé’s visually thrilling and musically triumphant ‘To Be Loved Tour’ featuring performances of his biggest hits including “Home” and “Haven’t Met You Yet” along with exclusive footage of Team Bublé travels.
Celebrate the 25th anniversary Ingénue, the critically acclaimed and GRAMMY®-award winning album by superstar singer-songwriter k.d. lang with a one-night-only performance from the magnificent Majestic Theater in downtown San Antonio, Texas.
In honor of Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday, Tanglewood—the famed summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra—dedicated its entire 2018 season to the iconic composer, conductor, performer, educator and humanitarian.
Watch Verdi’s grand opera featuring his most celebrated arias. Starring vocal powerhouses Anna Netrebko in the title role and Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris as they go toe to toe in this love story set in ancient Egypt. Nicola Luisotti conducts.
Great Performances continues the cherished tradition of ringing in the new year with the Vienna Philharmonic at the opulent Musikverein. Under the baton of guest conductor Christian Thielemann, the celebration features favorite Strauss Family waltzes and the dancing of the Vienna State Ballet. Downton Abbey’s Earl of Grantham, Hugh Bonneville, returns as host.
Celebrate the orchestra’s centennial with a gala concert conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, featuring pianist Lang Lang, and works by Mozart, Strauss, and Ravel, with vignettes of past music directors.
Experience Christoph Willibald Gluck’s enduringly popular French-language opera based on the famous Greek myth. From Lyric Opera of Chicago in collaboration with The Joffrey Ballet. Starring Dmitry Korchak, Andriana Chuchman and Lauren Snouffer.
Watch an adaptation of John Patrick Shanley’s hit 2005 Broadway play and the 2008 film about suspicion leading to a battle of wills at a Bronx Catholic school. Starring Christine Brewer, Adriana Zabala, Matthew Worth and Denyce Graves.
Watch composer Nico Muhly’s reimagining of Winston Graham’s novel about a beautiful, mysterious woman who assumes multiple identities. Starring Isabel Leonard in the title role alongside Christopher Maltman as Mark Rutland. Robert Spano conducts.
The AARP Movies for Grownups multimedia franchise was established in 2002 to celebrate and encourage filmmaking with unique appeal to movie lovers with a grownup state of mind—and recognize the inspiring artists who make them.
Watch Puccini’s blazing love story set in the Wild West, based on David Belasco’s play “The Girl of the Golden West,” starring Eva-Maria Westbroek and Jonas Kaufmann. Marco Armiliato conducts.
Celebrate the world-renowned tenor with a concert spotlighting his popular music and opera repertoire including the duet “Fall on Me” performed with his son Matteo along with songs from his new album “Si.”
The songs of legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell’s are among the most sublime musical landscapes of human emotion ever created. Mitchell’s unique musical and lyrical gifts are an unprecedented marriage of intimacy and universality, creating a sound that is incomparable, yet relatable to all.
Celebrate the life of Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson, the face of opera in the late 1950s-70s. This new documentary showcases her greatest roles, including Elektra and The Ring Cycle, in rare footage, plus interviews with Plácido Domingo and more.
Watch Saint-Saëns’s biblical epic based on the tale of Samson and Delilah from the Book of Judges. Starring tenor Roberto Alagna and mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča in the title roles. Sir Mark Elder conducts.
Set in a women’s prison, Great Performances: Julius Caesar offers a powerful dramatization of the catastrophic consequences of a political leader’s extension of power beyond constitutional confines through an all-female lens.
See Michael Mayer’s richly textured production of Verdi’s classic opera, starring soprano Diana Damrau as the tragic heroine Violetta and Juan Diego Flórez as her hapless lover Alfredo. Met Opera music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
Watch Cilea’s classic opera starring Anna Netrebko in the title role of the real-life French actress who dazzled 18th-century audiences with her on-and offstage passion, with Piotr Beczała as her lover, Maurizio.
Watch Sir Richard Eyre’s production of Bizet’s masterpiece starring Clémentine Margaine reprising her role as opera’s ultimate seductress alongside Roberto Alagna as her impassioned lover Don José. Louis Langréeconducts.
Watch Donizetti’s romantic comedy about a budding military relationship starring Pretty Yende and Javier Camarena in a feast of bel canto vocal fireworks. Special guest Kathleen Turner makes her Met debut. Enrique Mazzola conducts.
Experience a Wagnerian event for the ages starring Christine Goerke as the willful warrior Brünnhilde alongside Stuart Skelton, Eva-Maria Westbroek and Greer Grimsley. Philippe Jordan conducts.
Enjoy the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic’s annual concert from Schönbrunn Palace with guest conductor Gustavo Dudamel and famed pianist Yuja Wang playing works including Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”
Watch John Dexter’s production of the Poulenc classic about the power of faith, starring Isabel Leonard as Blanche and Karita Mattila as the Prioress. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
2021
Experience the music director of the Metropolitan Opera’s meteoric rise to become one of the most acclaimed and sought-after music directors of his generation in this documentary from cinema verité filmmaker Susan Froemke.
Honor the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with this special performance hosted by Misty Copeland and led by Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin featuring soloists Ailyn Pérez, Michelle DeYoung, Matthew Polenzani and Eric Owens.
Experience Hans Christian Andersen’s dark fairytale from acclaimed director-choreographer Matthew Bourne with this Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation starring Ashley Shaw, Adam Cooper, Dominic North and Michaela Meazza.
From the historic Stadthalle in Wuppertal, Germany, recorded in January, this world-famous soprano-tenor pair perform arias and duets from some of their many performances at the Met including Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier,” Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino,” “Luisa Miller” and Dvořák’s “Rusalka," accompanied by Vincenzo Scalera on piano.
Three-time GRAMMY winner Isabel Leonard joins Nadine Sierra and Ailyn Pérez to perform timeless selections by Mozart, Offenbach and Bizet including “Voi che sapete” and “Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour” along with beloved songs like “Bésame Mucho” and “Cielito Lindo.” The concert was recorded in May at the Royal Opera of Versailles in France and Met Opera soprano Christine Goerke hosts.
Go inside the mind of a genius as host Scott Yoo and fellow musicians undertake a recording of Beethoven's most personal music at a historic Berkshires manor to explore the composer’s brilliant career—where they are visited by some unexpected guests.
Recorded in May, a quartet of some of opera’s most powerful and dramatic singers comes together at the Hessisches Staatstheater in Wiesbaden, Germany. Sopranos Christine Goerke and Elza van den Heever, tenor Andreas Schager, and baritone Michael Volle perform a program of selections by Wagner and Strauss.
Experience a concert of works by legendary composer John Williams from Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home at Tanglewood including Williams’ new violin concerto performed by virtuoso Anne-Sophie Mutter and other works conducted by Andris Nelsons.
Celebrate opening night of San Francisco Symphony’s 110th season as it welcomes its new GRAMMY-winning music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, featuring music by John Adams, esperanza spalding & Wayne Shorter and performances by Alonzo King LINES Ballet.
Enjoy this contemporary reboot of the 1870 ballet favorite that blends live-action ballet with CGI and features ballet stars Michaela DePrince and Daniel Camargo.
Enjoy this special encore of Natalie Cole’s Emmy-winning concert of her GRAMMY-winning album in Great Performances: Unforgettable With Love - Natalie Cole. Featuring classics such as “Mona Lisa,” “The Very Thought of You” and “For Sentimental Reasons,” the concert also features a special performance of Nat King Cole’s signature song “Unforgettable” sung as a duet by Natalie Cole and her father.
Recorded December 2020, the legendary bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel performs a holiday program accompanied by Jeff Howard on piano and the Welsh traditional folk group Calan from Brecon Cathedral in the singer’s native Wales.
The Met rings in the new year with a gala performance featuring stars Angel Blue, Pretty Yende, Javier Camarena and Matthew Polenzani. Performing from the Parktheater in Kurhaus Göggingen in Augsburg, Germany, the program features arias, duets and ensembles from Donizetti to Puccini, as well as arrangements of operetta and Neapolitan songs.
Ring in the new year in Austria at the Musikverein with the Vienna Philharmonic and host Hugh Bonneville in this annual concert of waltzes by Strauss and more under the baton of guest conductor Daniel Barenboim.
Go behind the scenes of Broadway as shows reunite, rehearse and re-stage for their long-awaited reopening nights while the theater industry learns how to turn the lights back on after its longest hiatus in history due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bass René Pape, the world’s reigning Boris, reprises his portrayal of the tortured tsar caught between ambition and paranoia. Conductor Sebastian Weigle leads Mussorgsky’s Russian masterwork in its original 1869 version. Stephen Wadsworth’s production captures the hope and suffering of the Russian people as well as the tsar himself. Met Opera soprano Angel Blue hosts.
The ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, who attempts to harness the power of music to rescue his beloved Eurydice from the Underworld, has inspired composers since opera’s earliest days. With a libretto by Sarah Ruhl adapted from her acclaimed 2003 play, the opera reimagines the familiar tale from Eurydice’s point of view.
First broadcast on PBS in 2018, Movies for Grownups Awards with AARP the Magazine returns for a fifth year to celebrate and encourage filmmaking with unique appeal to movie-lovers with a grownup state of mind—and recognize the inspiring artists who make them. Each year the centerpiece honor is the Career Achievement Award, celebrating the contributions cinema legends.
Follow Marin Alsop’s journey to become the first female music director of a major American symphony despite repeated rejection by the classical music industry. Features archival footage with her mentor Leonard Bernstein and is set to a soundtrack of her performances.
Experience Grammy-winning composer Terence Blanchard and librettist Kasi Lemmon’s adaptation of Charles M. Blow’s memoir. James Robinson and Camille A. Brown co-direct with Brown also choreographing. Baritone Will Liverman stars with soprano Angel Blue.
Host Scott Yoo and his wife, flutist Alice Dade, perform the work of Romantic era classical composer Amy Beach at Festival Mosaic and uncover Beach’s many musical influences. Featuring performances of Beach’s works, the duo visits places Beach took inspiration from throughout her life, including an artist residency at MacDowell in New Hampshire.
From Little Rock to Chicago, host Scott Yoo follows the trail of the great African American composer Florence Price.
Scott Yoo explores the life and work of Aaron Copland, and how he created the American sound.
Scott Yoo discovers how American composers are inspired by their immigrant roots today through two composers: Brazilian-born Sergio Assad and Indian American Reena Esmail.
Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard stars as the rags-to-riches princess in Laurent Pelly’s storybook staging of Massenet’s “Cendrillon.” Featuring an all-new English translation by Kelley Rourke and conducted by Maestro Emmanuel Villaume, the cast also includes mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo as Cinderella’s Prince Charming, soprano Jessica Pratt as her Fairy Godmother, and more.
Enjoy this London production of Cole Porter’s classic musical led by Sutton Foster who reprises her Tony-winning role as Reno Sweeney directed by Kathleen Marshall with favorite songs like “I Get A Kick Out of You” and “You’re the Top.”
Experience Shakespeare’s comedic masterpiece from the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park. Set in South Harlem, the play tells the story of the trickster Falstaff and the wily wives who outwit him in a celebration of Black joy, laughter and vitality.
Take an inside look at the reimagined gender-swapped production as it returns to Broadway during the COVID-19 pandemic. Features new interviews with Tony and Grammy-winning cast members Katrina Lenk, Patti LuPone, Sondheim and more.
Baritone Quinn Kelsey portrays the title role at the Met for the first time, starring alongside soprano Rosa Feola as Gilda and tenor Piotr Beczała as the Duke of Mantua. Maestro Daniele Rustioni leads Verdi’s timeless tragedy reset in 1920s Europe by Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher. Varduhi Abrahamyan plays Maddalena and Andrea Mastroni plays Sparafucile.
Soprano Lise Davidsen brings one of her signature roles to the Met for the first time as the mythological Greek heroine of Strauss’ masterpiece.
For the first time in its history, the Met presents the original five-act French version of Verdi’s epic opera of doomed love among royalty, set against the backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition. Watch this starry cast including tenor Matthew Polenzani in the title role, soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Élisabeth de Valois and Jamie Barton as Eboli.
Enjoy the Vienna Philharmonic’s annual summer night concert with cellist Gautier Capuçon under the direction of guest conductor Andris Nelsons at Austria’s Schönbrunn Palace.
Enjoy opera superstar Liudmyla Monastyrska in the title role of the legendary cold-hearted princess. Marco Armiliato conducts Puccini’s score with tenor Yonghoon Lee as Calàf, the bold prince determined to win the princess' love. Nadine Sierra hosts.
2020
Experience a ballet of Shakespeare’s classic from choreographer Kenneth MacMillan performed by dancers from The Royal Ballet set to a score by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev filmed on atmospheric locations throughout Budapest.
Explore the work of famed composer Joseph Haydn’s career with host Scott Yoo and featured guest artists as he discovers how Haydn borrowed folk music from Scotland, Hungary and Austria to create his famous “Emperor Quartet.”
Celebrate the work of Franz Schubert with host Scott Yoo as he plays with young musicians establishing themselves in North America's musical capitals by attempting to master the composer’s music.
Join Scott Yoo, renowned violinist and conductor of the Mexico City Philharmonic, in Now Hear This Series 2, a four-part documentary miniseries presented by Great Performances that merges music, storytelling, travel and culture, as Yoo chases the secret histories of some of the greatest music ever written.
In collaboration with the Recording Academy®, Great Performances presents GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends®, the fifth annual all-star concert offering a primetime spotlight for the Recording Academy’s 2020 Special Merit Awards recipients. The 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Chicago, Roberta Flack, Isaac Hayes, Iggy Pop, John Prine, Public Enemy, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Featuring a Tony Award-winning performance by CBS Late Late Show host James Corden, the hilarious West End and Broadway hit One Man, Two Guvnors by playwright Richard Bean delighted critics and audiences alike during its West End and Broadway productions in 2011 and 2012.
Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles is the first in-depth documentary that chronicles the story of the international Broadway blockbuster "Fiddler on the Roof" – exploring the unexpected richness of its themes as well as its vast reach across time and cultures.
Roundabout Theatre Company’s festive production of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn – The Broadway Musical returns to GREAT PERFORMANCES for a special seasonal encore. Inspired by the 1942 Academy Award-winning film starring Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, Holiday Inn tells the story of Jim, a song & dance man who decides to leave Broadway’s bright lights to settle down at a Connecticut farmhouse. But country life isn’t quite what he expects until he meets Linda, the schoolteacher next door with talent to spare. Together, they turn his farmhouse into a seasonal inn with show-stopping performances to celebrate each holiday. But when Jim’s best friend Ted tries to lure Linda away to be his new Hollywood dance partner, will Jim be able to salvage another chance at love? Starring Bryce Pinkham, Lora Lee Gayer and Corbin Bleu, the score’s back-to-back Irving Berlin hits include “Cheek to Cheek,” “Easter Parade,” “White Christmas” and many more.
Captured in peak performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga performs the beloved songs she made famous throughout her Broadway career, as well as her signature songs from the animated movie blockbusters “Aladdin” and “Mulan” from the Sydney Opera House.
Ring in 2021 with host Hugh Bonneville joined by guest conductor Riccardo Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic performing a festive selection of Strauss Family waltzes.
Explore the legacy of superstar Maria Callas in this documentary detailing her 1964 comeback at London’s Royal Opera House in “Tosca,” featuring insights from fans including Rufus Wainwright and opera stars Thomas Hampson and Kristine Opolais.
Experience legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz’s 1986 Russian homecoming for a sold-out concert of personal favorites, featuring commentary from former manager Peter Gelb and virtuoso pianists Martha Argerich and Daniil Trifonov.
Experience the beloved American soprano perform arias by Puccini and Massenet to selections by Handel and Korngold from the intimate music salon of Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C.
Watch actors and filmmakers as they are honored for creating films that resonate with older viewers in this star-studded awards ceremony. Celebrating movies that matter, the Awards champion movies for grownups, by grownups.
The superstar tenor sings a program of classic arias from the Baroque interior of the historic Polling Abbey located in the Bavarian countryside outside Munich, Germany. Selections from this performance include “Nessun dorma” from “Turandot,” “E lucevan le stelle” from “Tosca,” “Ah! lève-toi, soleil” from “Roméo et Juliette,” “La fleur que tu m’avais jetée” and many more.
Experience the international impact of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s historic 1973 trip to China, offering a story of cultural reversals and a glimpse into the worldwide future of classical music.
This stylized film of Shakespeare’s masterpiece from the National Theatre celebrates the theatrical imagination. In this contemporary retelling, a company of actors in a shuttered theater bring to life the tale of two young lovers who strive to transcend a world of violence and hate. Josh O’Connor and Jessie Buckley star as Shakespeare’s immortal star-crossed lovers.
Tony Award nominee Conor McPherson breathes new life into Anton Chekhov’s masterpiece with his acclaimed adaptation of the drama, portraying life at the turn of the 20th century filled with tumultuous frustration, dark humor and hidden passions.
The soprano performs arias and songs that brought her success around the world including selections from Wagner’s “Tannhäuser,” Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos,” Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” and more from Oslo’s Oscarshall Palace in Norway.
Take an inside look at how arts organizations nationwide are surviving the pandemic and how they are maturing during the country’s reckoning with systemic racism, featuring interviews with artists and performances made during lockdown.
Recorded in August, the married tenor and soprano duo perform arias and duets from the Château de la Chèvre d’Or perched on a cliff in the South of France. selections performed include the love duet from “Madama Butterfly,” the hilarious “Caro elisir” from “L’Elisir d’Amore,” and the Mexican favorite “Cielito Lindo.”
Enjoy the songs of the internationally beloved tenor’s 2020 album recorded on location in Malta. Selections performed include “Gratia Plena,” a duet with Cecilia Bartoli, and new interpretations of “Ave Maria” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”
Experience an all-star concert honoring the early years of Fleetwood Mac and founding member Peter Green at the London Palladium featuring artists including Pete Townshend, Steven Tyler, David Gilmour, Noel Gallagher, Christine McVie and more.
Recorded in February from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria, the megastar performs Russian songs by Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Tchaikovsky as well as selections by Debussy, Dvořák, Fauré and Strauss. Accompanied by Pavel Nebolsin on piano, the program also features mezzo-soprano Elena Maximova for duets from Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” and Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades.”
Experience a new performance by the American mezzo-soprano from the art-nouveau Jahrhunderthalle in Bochum, Germany, featuring Baroque works by Handel as well as songs like “La vie en rose” and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Gloria Estefan journeys through three of Brazil’s most influential cities, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Salvador, with Estefan as narrator and host, discussing the history of Samba and its many variations. Featuring regional celebrities like Maria Rita, Carlinhos Brown and Jorge Arãgo, the documentary looks at the African origins of Brazilian music and specific sites that have inspired artists.
Anaadi and the Raíces Jazz Orchestra perform Jorge Ben's classic from his debut album "Samba Esquema Novo," called "Mas Que Nada."
Don’t miss Diana Damrau and Joseph Calleja’s captivating performance from the spectacular Royal Palace of Caserta.
Go backstage on Broadway from 1959 to the early 1980s through interviews with theater legends including Carol Burnett, Liza Minnelli, Dick Van Dyke and more touching on a variety of classic shows like “Bye, Bye Birdie,” “Pippin” and “A Chorus Line.”
Enjoy the Vienna Philharmonic’s annual summer night concert under the direction of guest conductor Daniel Harding with piano virtuoso Igor Levit at Austria’s Schönbrunn Palace.
Enjoy the talent of Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva as she performs arias by Verdi, Puccini and more from the Baroque Library in Schussenried Cloister in southwest Germany accompanied by Julien Quentin on piano.
2015
The hit musical both on Broadway and in London’s West End was recorded for broadcast at the show's West End home, the Victoria Palace Theatre, where it is still playing. Billy Elliot the Musical Live features Liam Mower as Older Billy (he was the first boy ever to play Billy Elliot on stage in 2005). Also, 25 current and former Billy Elliots unite on stage for a number. With a score by Elton John.
A retrospective of Broadway legend Chita Rivera. Luminaries Dick Van Dyke, John Kander, Carol Lawrence, Ben Vereen, and others pay tribute to the dynamic singer, dancer, and actress. Anita in “West Side Story,” Rosie in “Bye Bye Birdie,” Velma in “Chicago,” — these are just some of the iconic roles created by Rivera. Also see newly filmed songs from Rivera’s concert repertoire.
The international superstar tenor Andrea Bocelli lends his unique voice to a lush symphonic salute to the movies, celebrating some of the greatest celluloid songs and scores of all time written by Italian and Hollywood composers. Hollywood luminaries John Travolta, Ryan O’Neal, Ali MacGraw, and Andy Garcia join Bocelli onstage to speak about the films from which the songs derive.
Julie Andrews hosts the annual New Year’s Day celebration with the Vienna Philharmonic from Vienna’s Musikverein, a beloved annual tradition. Maestro Mariss Jansons will conduct the popular concert of melodies by the Strauss Family and their contemporaries. The the Vienna Boys’ Choir and soloists of the Vienna State Ballet also perform.
Soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Yonghoon Lee make their Met role debuts in Verdi's Il Trovatore. Netrebko sings Leonora, the tortured heroine who sacrifices her own life for the love of the Gypsy troubadour, Manrico, played by Yonghoon Lee. Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings Count di Luna, Dolora Zajick sings her signature role of the gypsy Azucena, and Štefan Kocán is Ferrando. Marco Armiliato conducts.
Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher’s acclaimed new Met Opera production is led by conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin with Aleksandrs Antonenko in his first Met performance as Otello, the tormented Moor of Venice, with Sonya Yoncheva in her role debut as his innocent wife, Desdemona. Željko Lučić is Otello’s sinister rival, Iago. Great Performances at the Met is now in its 10th season.
Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser comes to Great Performances at the Met for the first time and is conducted by James Levine. The Otto Schenk production gets its first Met revival in more than a decade. Johan Botha makes his Met role debut in the titular role; Eva-Maria Westbroek is Elisabeth; Michelle DeYoung is the goddess Venus; Peter Mattei is Wolfram; and Günther Groissböck is the Landgraf.
Artist William Kentridge directs Alban Berg’s opera Lulu, starring German soprano Marlis Petersen as the irresistible femme fatale. One of the most important and notorious stage works of the 20th century, Lulu is the drama of a young woman who sexually and emotionally dominates a wide range of willing victims, both male and female. Welsh National Opera music director Lothar Koenigs conducts.
A concert with folk music legend Joan Baez and others, celebrating her birthday at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Baez is joined on stage by stars including David Bromberg, Jackson Browne, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Judy Collins, David Crosby, Emmylou Harris, Indigo Girls, Damien Rice, Paul Simon, Mavis Staples, Nano Stern, and Richard Thompson.
Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and directed by Penny Woolcock, Bizet’s sweeping romance tells the story of a beautiful Hindu priestess pursued by rival pearl divers competing for her hand. Diana Damrau leads the cast as the priestess Leïla, opposite Matthew Polenzani as Nadir, Mariusz Kwiecien as Zurga, and Nicolas Testé as the high priest Nourabad.
Hear Swedish soprano Nina Stemme sing the demanding title role of Puccini’s Chinese ice princess, with Anita Hartig as the angelic slave girl Liù and Marco Berti as Calàf. Paolo Carignani conducts Franco Zeffirelli’s spectacular 1987 production.
Hear Kristine Opolais and Roberto Alagna as the ill-fated lovers in Puccini’s passionate adaptation of the classic novel about a free-spirited country girl. Sir Richard Eyre’s new production, conducted by Fabio Luisi, is set in the 1940s.
Kristine Opolais brings her heartbreaking interpretation of the title role to the series for the first time. Roberto Alagna sings Lieutenant Pinkerton, the callous officer who crushes Butterfly's dreams of love. Debuting conductor Karel Mark Chichon leads a cast that includes Maria Zifchak as Suzuki and Dwayne Croft as Sharpless.
The last opera in Donizetti’s Tudor trilogy, directed by Sir David McVicar, stars Sondra Radvanovsky as Elizabeth I and features Matthew Polenzani, Elina Garanca and Mariusz Kwiecien. Maurizio Benini conducts.
Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts patrice Chéreau’s acclaimed staging of Elektra, with Nina Stemme in the title role on Great Performances at the Met
Led by guest conductor Semyon Bychkov for the very first time, the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic returns for its 13th open-air concert, with a program of French orchestral classics, in the magnificent gardens of Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace.
Bray Poor
Narrator (voice)
2025
Discover Grace Bumbry’s inspiring rise to global opera fame. Spotlighting her historic performances, the film explores the racial barriers she overcame to triumph in her 1966 performance as "Carmen."
Rossini’s effervescent comedy retakes the stage in Bartlett Sher’s madcap production. Aigul Akhmetshina headlines a winning ensemble as the feisty heroine, Rosina, alongside Jack Swanson, in his Met debut, as her secret beloved, Count Almaviva. Andrey Zhilikhovsky stars as Figaro, the infamous barber of Seville, with Peter Kálmán as Dr. Bartolo and Alexander Vinogradov as Don Basilio.
Follow acclaimed ballerina Tiler Peck as she overcomes injury to reclaim her place on stage and debut her own choreography with New York City Ballet, revealing the resilience and artistry behind a modern-day prima ballerina.
The Shakespearean comedy of mistaken identity tells the romantic misadventures of twins Sebastian and Viola after they survive a shipwreck, including revenge plots and tricks of love. Recorded this summer at the newly renovated Delacorte Theater in Central Park, the production is directed by Tony Award nominee Saheem Ali.
Experience the holiday classic in a new light, featuring over 100 dancers and musicians performing at the London Coliseum.
The famed Vienna Philharmonic rings in the New Year with its annual concert from Vienna's Musikverein conducted for the first time by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with performances by the Vienna State Ballet and location segments hosted by Hugh Bonneville.
Iconic and beloved screen and stage performer Alan Cumming returns as host for this awards show in which Adam Sandler receives the Career Achievement Award.
A number one album and a double Grammy-win in 2023 put jazz vocalist Samara Joy on the map, officially establishing the Bronx native as the next jazz sensation and a legend in the making, with frequent comparisons to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Fresh from another double win at the 2025 Grammys, Joy makes her much-anticipated debut at London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall.
Experience Zeffirelli’s beloved production set in 19th-century Paris telling the story of Puccini’s young artists and lovers that share joy, passion, and heartbreak featuring Juliana Grigoryan as Mimì and Freddie De Tommaso as Rodolfo.
In this new adaptation of Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel set shortly before the outbreak of World War II, two Jewish cousins invent an anti-fascist superhero and launch their own comic-book series, hoping to recruit America into the fight against Nazism.
Johannes Brahms was a quiet, private person, but he lived a full life, bearing a responsibility he didn’t want, a woman he couldn’t be with, and a legacy he couldn’t live up to. Scott Yoo journeys across Germany with pianist Elisabeth Brauss and cellists Johannes Moser and Max Hornung to find a window into Brahms’ inner life.
Nadine Sierra stars as Amina in Bellini’s tale of love lost and found. This new production by Rolando Villazón—the tenor who has embarked on a second career as a director—retains the opera’s original setting in the Swiss Alps but uses its plot to explore the emotional and psychological valleys of the mind.
Scott Joplin was the king of ragtime, a new kind music for the turn of the 20th century. Rick Benjamin’s Paragon Ragtime Orchestra takes Scott Yoo back in time to experience the music, movies and style of that era.
Istanbul sits at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, a melting pot of diverse peoples, languages and ideas. With star Turkish pianist Fazil Say, conductor Çem Mansur, and a host of Anatolian folk and Turkish jazz musicians, Scott Yoo and his wife, flutist Alice Dade, explore the city.
Fewer people live in Iceland than in Wichita, Kansas, yet it produces some of the best musicians in the world. To find out how, Scott Yoo crosses this sunlit, rainy, volcanic land of extremes to meet composers Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Daniel Bjarnason, popular musician JFDR, instrument makers, music historians, and one of Iceland’s most famous chefs.
Josh Groban returns to PBS in a special, personal concert staged in the intimate and historic setting of London’s Union Chapel. Recorded in October 2025, the concert captures the acclaimed vocalist showcasing his most beloved songs alongside new material, all reimagined within the chapel’s acoustics. Between songs, Groban speaks about what makes these songs personal to him.
Created by Tony Award winner Shaina Taub, this musical recorded from Broadway tells the story of the American suffragist movement and the remarkable friendships, heartbreak, and action that brought women together—or, in some cases, tore them apart.
Inspired by the iconic 1935 movie musical starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, this acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre revival recorded from the West End in January 2026 is directed and choreographed by three-time Tony winner Kathleen Marshall.
Strauss’ romance brings the glamour of 19th-century Vienna to the Met stage in a production by legendary Otto Schenk. Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen makes her role debut as Arabella, a young noblewoman in search of love on her own terms. Soprano Louise Alder makes her Met debut as her sister, Zdenka, and bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny is the count who sweeps Arabella off her feet.
Recorded in October 2025, Nicole Scherzinger performs at London’s Royal Albert Hall for the first time in her first major UK solo show in 13 years. Accompanied by a full orchestra, Scherzinger sings a mix of beloved Broadway standards and pop hits from her career as lead singer of The Pussycat Dolls.
2024
Enjoy this semi-staged oratorio with the New York Philharmonic and an international cast telling the story of Jewish refugees in World War II Shanghai set to music by Aaron Zigman with lyrics by Mark Campbell and additional lyrics by Brock Walsh.
Explore Peter Sellars' San Francisco Opera production of John Adams' "Girls of the Golden West" set during Gold Rush. Go behind the scenes with cast members Julia Bullock, J'Nai Bridges and others as they bring the show to life on stage.
Experience the music of Patsy Cline in a star-studded tribute concert featuring Wynonna and more.
Celebrate the centennial birthday of composer Henry Mancini with Michael Bublé, Cynthia Erivo, saxophonist Dave Koz, Monica Mancini and host Jeff Goldblum featuring Mancini’s signature songs and clips from his beloved movies and TV shows.
Experience this annual beloved concert from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Johann Strauss. Conducted by Riccardo Muti for the seventh time, PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville returns to host.
Iconic and beloved screen and stage performer Alan Cumming returns as host for this awards show in which Glenn Close receives the Career Achievement Award.
Experience the world-renowned Italian tenor’s 30th anniversary concert from Tuscany featuring global superstars Ed Sheeran, David Foster, Katharine McPhee, Sofia Carson, Brian May, Jon Batiste and more. Directed by Grammy nominee and Emmy winner Sam Wrench.
Follow a fighter pilot who operates a drone in a high-tech world battling both war and motherhood. With pressures from every angle, she balances being the perfect soldier, wife and mother. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Michael Mayer's staging.
Follow Scott Yoo and pianist Jan Lisiecki as they explore Chopin’s life, his Polish roots, and his journey to Paris taking a closer look at the composer's musical evolution and his deep connection to his homeland while living in France.
Experience Rudolf Nureyev’s revolutionary 1964 production of "Swan Lake" with ballerina Margot Fonteyn through extensive excerpts and interviews with their fellow dancers Michael Birkmeyer, Gisela Cech and others as they analyze Nureyev’s virtuosity.
Benjamin Bernheim performs the title role of the tormented poet for Offenbach’s final work. Hoffmann’s trio of lovers are sung by Erin Morley as the mechanical doll Olympia, Pretty Yende as the plagued diva Antonia, and Clémentine Margaine as the Venetian seductress Giulietta.
Join Scott Yoo and musicians on a night tour of Madrid to uncover Boccherini’s deep love for the city and learn how his iconic "Night Music of the Streets of Madrid" was inspired by his time in Spain, blending history and the pulse of the streets.
Follow Rachmaninoff’s journey from a Russian aristocrat to an American artist after the Bolshevik revolution. Forced to rebuild at 44, he embraced modern technology, toured extensively and reinvented his career while longing for his lost homeland.
Explore Agustin Barrios’ journey from rural Paraguay to global recognition as a guitar composer. Despite facing rejection and personal struggles, his innovative compositions and passion for Latin American folk music made him a 20th-century icon.
Experience this Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical directed by Michael Longhurst from London's Donmar Warehouse. Grammy nominee Caissie Levy stars in the story of a suburban family struggling with the effects of mental illness.
Enjoy Tony winner David Henry Hwang’s comedy starring Daniel Dae Kim as an Asian American playwright who protests “yellowface” casting in the musical “Miss Saigon” only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play.
Lise Davidsen stars in the title role alongside Freddie De Tommaso in his company debut as her lover Cavaradossi with Quinn Kelsey as the chief of police Scarpia. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
Experience 20 reimagined, legendary Bob Dylan songs including “Forever Young,” “Hurricane,” and “Like A Rolling Stone" in this musical set in 1934 Minnesota where a group of travelers’ lives intersect in a guesthouse filled with music, life and hope.
Enjoy this Cole Porter classic musical featuring iconic songs like “Another Op'nin', Another Show," “So In Love” and more. Tony winner Stephanie J. Block and Adrian Dunbar co-star in a backstage romantic comedy directed by Bartlett Sher.
Angel Blue makes her highly anticipated Met role debut as Aida, the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium of Michael Mayer’s staging, featuring intricate projections of ancient Egypt and animations.
In her second role of this season of Great Performances at the Met, Lise Davidsen stars as Leonore, who risks everything to save her husband from the clutches of tyranny. David Butt Philip is the political prisoner Florestan, sharing the stage with Tomasz Konieczny as the villainous Don Pizarro, René Pape as the jailer Rocco, and Ying Fang as Marzelline.
Conductor Joana Mallwitz makes her Met debut leading the cast in Mozart’s comic masterpiece. Michael Sumuel is the clever valet Figaro opposite Olga Kulchynska as his betrothed, the wily maid Susanna. Joshua Hopkins plays the skirt-chasing Count, Federica Lombardi portrays his anguished wife, and Marianne Crebassa takes on the role of the adolescent page Cherubino.
The beloved annual concert performed by Vienna Philharmonic takes place in Schönbrunn Palace Park and is conducted for the first time by Maestro Tugan Sokhiev.
The first new production of the opera at the Met in 20 years, director Claus Guth reimagines the biblical tale through Oscar Wilde’s haunting play, setting it in an intricate Victorian world filled with symbolism and contrasts of darkness and light. Headlining the new staging is Elza van den Heever as the abused and unhinged antiheroine Salome, who demands the head of Jochanaan.
1986
1975
1988
1989
Musical celebration of the songs of lyricist Alan Jay Lerner.
1974
In a nod to the days of classic American comedy, a 1929's Tin Pan Alley lyricist meets a composer who has a big hit: "Paprika... the Spice of My Life."
Mr. Holroyd is an alcoholic, abusive miner in pre-WWI England who terrorizes his family. Mrs. Holroyd plans to run away with her would-be lover when Mr. Holroyd dies in a mining accident, leaving the family torn with guilt over their hatred of the dead man. Geraldine Page and Rex Robins star.
King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly flatter the old man in return for favor, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters. But Goneril and Regan have no love for him and instead plot to take all his power from him. In a parallel, Lear's loyal courtier Gloucester favors his illegitimate son Edmund after being told lies about his faithful son Edgar. Madness and tragedy befall both ill-starred fathers.
1976
1977
1979
1978
1983
A multi-award winning biography covering the life and career of actor/director Laurence Olivier.
1982
