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Great Performances

Arts and Music Series / 5 Seasons

Great Performances brings the best in the performing arts from across America and around the world to a US television audience. It presents a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.

Watch Latest: S52 E14

54m 24s / TV-G

Dudamel Describes the Drama and Genius of Verdi's Requiem

2m 59s

Gustavo Dudamel can describe Verdi's Requiem as passionately as he conducts it. "The theatrical elements of this piece is incredible," he says in this interview that includes rehearsal footage. Using his hands, growls and poetic descriptions, Dudamel conveys the intense emotions of the music. Watch "Dudamel Conducts the Verdi Requiem at The Hollywood Bowl" on Fri. Aug. 1 at 9 pm on PBS.

Dudamel Conducts the Verdi Requiem at the Hollywood Bowl

34s

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. Airs on Great Performances on Friday, August 1 at 9 pm.

GP at the Met: Werther

39s

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 Sunday, July 20 at 12 pm on PBS. (In New York, THIRTEEN airs the opera at 12:30 pm). Sophie Koch, a leading interpreter of the role Charlotte, plays opposite Kaufmann after their prior appearances together in Paris and Vienna in same roles.

GP at the Met: La Bohème

34s

Franco Zeffirelli’s production of La Bohème, the most-performed opera in Met history, starring Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo and Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais, airs on Great Performances at the Met on Friday, June 27 at 9 pm. 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.

GP at the Met: Prince Igor

40s

Borodin's Russian epic Prince Igor, performed by the Met for the first time in nearly 100 years, comes to Great Performances at the Met on June 22, 2014. 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.

Renée Fleming Sings "Song to the Moon" from Rusalka

2m 6s / TV-PG

The American soprano Renée Fleming won the Met's National Council Auditions 25 years ago singing the mermaid's aria "Song to the Moon" and has sung the role of Rusalka more than any artist in the Metropolitan Opera's history. Dvo?ák's Rusalka airs on Great Performances at the Met on May 18, 2014, at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN airs it Friday, May 30 at 9 pm.)

GP at the Met: Rusalka

30s

Renée Fleming sings one of her signature roles, the title character in Dvo?ák'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.

Matthew Bourne Interview. Creating a New Sleeping Beauty

2m 11s / TV-14

Dance history and storytelling is important to choreographer Matthew Bourne, creator of a "Swan Lake" with an all-male corp of Swans, and an "Edward Scissorhands" ballet, among other productions. Even in his re-interpretation of "Sleeping Beauty," he remains "reverential" about the original, he says in this interview. "Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty" airs on Great Performances, April 25 at 9 pm.

The Fairies Dance for Aurora

1m 54s / TV-PG

The year is 1890. By the light of the full moon and candlesticks, six good fairies slip into the sleeping baby Aurora's room. The baby awakes unfrightened and the fairies dance for her. Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty airs Friday, April 25, 2014 at 9 pm on PBS.

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty - Preview

40s / TV-PG

Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet, about a young woman who endures a decades-long slumber, is given a Gothic spin by choreographer Matthew Bourne, who also starts the story in 1890, when fairies, vampires and decadent opulence fed the Gothic imagination. Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty airs Friday, April 25 at 9 pm on PBS.

The Curse is Broken in Sleeping Beauty

2m 12s

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. Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty airs on Great Performances, Friday, April 25 at 9 pm on PBS.

Rose Adagio Duet from Sleeping Beauty, Act I

3m / TV-PG

Matthew Bourne choreographs Tchaikovsky's Rose Adagio as a playful, romantic duet between Princess Aurora (Hannah Vassallo) and the gardener Leo (Dominic North). An excerpt from Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty, airing on Great Performances on April 25 at 9 pm.

Aurora Dances in Her Sleep in "Sleeping Beauty"

2m 20s / TV-PG

Princess Aurora's 100-year slumber becomes restless as it nears the end of its spell. The ensemble sequence features Hannah Vassallo as Aurora and Dominic North as the modern-day Leo, who has waited for the curse to end for 100 years. An excerpt from Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty, airing April 25 at 9 pm on PBS.

Aurora's 100-Year Sleep in Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty

2m 20s / TV-PG

Princess Aurora's 100-year slumber becomes restless as it nears the end of its spell. The ensemble sequence features Hannah Vassallo as Aurora and Dominic North as the modern-day Leo. An excerpt from Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty, airing on Great Performances on April 25 at 9 PM.

Casting a Curse in Sleeping Beauty

1m 33s

The dark fairy Carabosse (Adam Maskell) enters the room of baby Princess Aurora to cast a curse upon her. The king and queen had desperately wanted a child and had sought Carabosse's help, but didn't show gratitude later. The dark fairy takes her revenge, leaving a blackened rose on Aurora's bassinet as an ominous symbol. An excerpt from Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty, airing April 25 at 9 pm.

GP at the Met: Falstaff

35s / TV-14

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. Airing Sunday, April 13, 2014, at noon on PBS (check local listings; airs April 10 at 9 pm on Thirteen).

The Dave Clark Five And Beyond - Glad All Over. Film Trailer

4m 8s / TV-14

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.

GP at the Met: Tosca (2014)

35s / TV-14

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. Airs Sunday March 9 at noon on PBS (check local listings).

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers with Edie Brickell

33s

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.

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