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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 E15

2h 9m / TV-14

Jonas Kaufmann and Kristine Opolais: La Boheme Act I Finale

2m 47s

Tenor Jonas Kaufmann and soprano Kristine Opolais join Andris Nelsons at his inaugural concert as as Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director to perform "O Soave Fanciulla," the Act I Finale from Puccini's opera La Boheme. Born in Riga in 1978 into a family of musicians, Nelsons began his career as a trumpeter in the Latvian National Opera Orchestra before studying conducting.

GP at the Met: Les Contes d'Hoffmann

34s

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 Sunday, May 10 at 12 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). 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.

GP at the Met: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

34s

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.

Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert

39s

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.

Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert - "Summertime"

2m 59s

George Gershwin composed "Summertime" for his opera Porgy and Bess (1935). The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based. Billie Holiday recorded the song in 1936 and it quickly became a frequently covered jazz standard. Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert airs on PBS on April 3, 2015 at 10 pm (check local listings).

Annie Lennox: Nostalgia in Concert - "I Put a Spell on You"

2m 55s

Annie Lennox sings "I Put a Spell on You" in her live concert of her Grammy-nominated album Nostalgia. Her performance of the song at the 2015 Grammy Awards was one of the most talked about highlights of that broadcast. The song was originally written and recorded in 1956 by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Lennox's version also opens the film "Fifty Shades of Grey."

Annie Lennox: Nostalgia in Concert - "Georgia on My Mind"

2m 11s

Annie Lennox performs "Georgia on My Mind" from her Nostalgia album, live in concert. The song was written by Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Stuart Gorrell (lyrics) in 1930. It was covered by many artists before the 1960 recording by Ray Charles made it a hit. Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert airs on PBS on April 3, 2015 at 10 pm (check local listings).

Annie Lennox: Nostalgia in Concert - "Mood Indigo"

2m 36s

"Mood Indigo" is a jazz standard composed in 1930 by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard, who played with Ellington's band for 15 years. The lyrics are by Irving Mills. Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert airs on PBS on April 3, 2015 at 10 pm (check local listings).

Mark Morris Dance Group: L'Allegro

33s

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.

Mark Morris on L'Allegro, a Masterpiece Dance

9m 45s

Choreographer Mark Morris shares insights on how the music of Handel, poetry of John Milton and art of William Blake inspired his dance L’Allegro, Il Penseroso ed il Moderato for the Mark Morris Dance Group, accompanied by live orchestra and chorus. Morris, dancers and artistic collaborators explain the structure of the dance, the music, as well as the set, costumes and lighting.

Mark Morris Dance Group: L'Allegro, "The Ladies' Dance"

2m 59s

In this section called "The Ladies Dance" in choreographer Mark Morris's signature work L’Allegro, Il Penseroso ed il Moderato, 12 women dance to an air for soprano representing a character "L'Allegro," a joyful person. The music is by Handel, with a libretto based on the poetry of John Milton.

Mark Morris Dance Group: L'Allegro, "The Stupid Men's Dance"

1m 58s

Men slap one another in slapstick fashion in a part nicknamed "The Stupid Men's Dance" in choreographer Mark Morris's signature work L’Allegro, Il Penseroso ed il Moderato. The singing is an air for tenor, representing a joyful character, "L'Allegro." The libretto, based on John Milton's poetry, refers to going to see theater by Jonson or Shakespeare.

Mark Morris Dance Group: L'Allegro Excerpts

2m 40s

See excerpts from Mark Morris’s signature work, L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, filmed at his group's engagement at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, in July 2014. The three sections seen here are Populous Cities from Act II; The Hunt, a playful scene from Act I; and the joyful finale. The music is by George Frideric Handel, with libretto based on John Milton's poetry.

GP at the Met: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

33s

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.

Bryan Adams in Concert

33s

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.” Airs in March on PBS.

"Se" from Cinema Paradiso with Groban, Fleming and Bell

2m 57s

"Se" by Andrea and Ennio Morricone, from the film Cinema Paradiso, is performed by Josh Groban, Renée Fleming and Joshua Bell, with conductor Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic. La Dolce Vita: The Music of Italian Cinema will air on Great Performances Friday, February 27, 2015 at 9 p.m. (Check local listings.)

La Dolce Vita: The Music of Italian Cinema

34s

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.

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).

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