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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 E3

1h 23m / TV-PG

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.

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.

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).

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."

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