Purlie Victorious Leslie Odom Jr and cast

Great Performances

Arts and Music Series / 6 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 E7

1h 30m / TV-G

Aleksandrs Antonenko as Don José in Carmen (2015)

1m 30s

Aleksandrs Antonenko sings Don José's aria from Act II of Bizet's Carmen. Don José sings to Carmen, "The flower that you had thrown me, I kept with me in prison. Withered and dry, the flower still kept its sweet smell." Great Performances at the Met: Carmen (2015) airs Sunday, February 22 at noon on PBS (check local listings).

GP at the Met: Carmen

34s

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. Great Performances at the Met: Carmen airs Feb. 22 at noon on PBS (check local listings).

Anna Netrebko as Lady Macbeth in GP at the Met: Macbeth

1m 44s / TV-PG

Russian star soprano Anna Netrebko makes her North American debut as the fatally ambitious Lady Macbeth. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi conducts his first-ever performances of Verdi’s thrilling drama Macbeth, which is the 2007 production directed by former Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Adrian Noble. Airs on Great Performances at the Met, Feb. 1 at 12 pm (in New York 12:30 pm).

GP at the Met: Macbeth

34s

Verdi’s powerful Shakespearean tragedy stars Serbian baritone eljko Lu?i? in the title role; Russian star soprano Anna Netrebko in her North American debut as Lady Macbeth; German bass René Pape as Banquo, one of the victims of Macbeth's bloody rise to the throne; and Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja as Macbeth's heroic rival Macduff. Airs Feb 1 at noon on PBS (at 12:30 pm in New York).

GP at the Met: Le Nozze di Figaro

34s

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.

Preview American Voices, with Renée Fleming

35s / TV-PG

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.

Renée Fleming Sings "Danny Boy" at American Voices Concert

2m 43s / TV-G

Acclaimed opera soprano Renée Fleming sings "Danny Boy," a song dear to Irish Americans, at the American Voices Concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The performance was part of the weekend-long American Voices festival that Fleming produced and led. The documentary American Voices with Renée Fleming airs Friday, January 9 at 9 pm on PBS (check local listings).

Sutton Foster Sings "Anything Goes" - American Voices

Sutton Foster, who has won Tony Awards for her leading roles in the musicals Thoroughly Modern Millie and Anything Goes, talks about her belated voice training and performs Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" at the American Voices Concert. The documentary American Voices with Renée Fleming airs Friday, January 9 at 9 pm on PBS (check local listings).

Julie Andrews Visits a Coffee House in Vienna

1m 20s / TV-G

Julie Andrews takes a coffee break from hosting From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2015 at Café Griensteidl. She explains the Viennese culture of the "Kaffeehaus," where people gather not only drink coffee but also read, write, play cards, and chat with friends. From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration, with conductor Zubin Mehta, airs Jan. 1 at 2:30 pm and 8 pm ET. Check local listings.

From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2015 - Preview

35s

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.

Roberto Alagna and El?na Garan?a: Final scene of Carmen

1m 8s

The deadly rage and passion of Don José, played by Roberto Alagna, is unleashed upon his former lover, Carmen, played by El?na Garan?a, in this final scene of Bizet's Carmen. Deborah Voigt hosts Encores! Great Performances at the Met, featuring 19 unforgettable arias and duets selected from the past eight seasons of broadcasts, airing in December 2014 on PBS stations (check local listings).

Encores! Great Performances at the Met

35s

Hosted by Deborah Voigt, the special covers a wide range of operatic ground, from heartbreak to hilarity, delivered by such artists as Natalie Dessay, Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming and more. Featuring 19 arias and duets selected from the past eight seasons of Great Performances at the Met broadcasts, performed by today’s greatest opera stars and talents. Check your local PBS station for air date.

Cats the Musical: A Preview

34s

This special encore presentation of the original 1998 broadcast of "Cats" airs Friday, November 21 at 9 pm ET on Great Performances. Let the "Memory" live again, but this time see Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical in high definition and digital sound!

Exclusive Interview: Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga on Jazz

2m 58s

"This is the most important album of my career," says pop star Lady Gaga about Cheek to Cheek. In this interview with footage from recording sessions, Lady Gaga says that she actually sang jazz before she sang pop. Jazz legend Tony Bennett says, "For jazz artists, there's no school you can go to. It's a gift. It's an improvised art. It's about individualism, and how they feel about life."

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga on Making Cheek to Cheek LIVE!

2m 55s / TV-G

Lady Gaga calls the PBS concert Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek LIVE "my favorite television performance that I've ever done." She describes the quality of the musicianship on stage under jazz legend Tony Bennett's leadership, and Bennett gives her career advice for the future.

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga Perform "I Won't Dance"

1m 39s

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga do dance a bit in their rendition of this classic song from the film Roberta (1935). This excerpt is from the live concert television event “Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek LIVE!” featuring hits from the duo’s new album Cheek to Cheek! The program premieres Friday, October 24 at 9 pm on PBS.

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga Sing "Nature Boy"

1m 17s

In this excerpt, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga embody the tenderness and love expressed in the song "Nature Boy." From the live concert television event “Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek LIVE!” featuring hits from the duo’s brand new album Cheek to Cheek! The program premieres Friday, October 24 at 9 pm on PBS.

Tony Bennett Sings "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?"

47s

In this concert excerpt, Bennett sings poignant verses from “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” The Oscar-nominated song with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman first appeared in the film, "Best Friends" (1982). “Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek LIVE!” features hits from the duo’s brand new album Cheek to Cheek! The program premieres Friday, October 24 at 9 pm on PBS.

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga Sing and Dance "Cheek to Cheek"

1m 46s

Irving Berlin wrote this song for Top Hat (1935), starring the dream dance pair Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga sing and dance "Cheek to Cheek" in the live concert television event “Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek LIVE!” featuring hits from the duo’s new album Cheek to Cheek! The program premieres Friday, October 24 at 9/8c on PBS.

Supported by