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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 E2

1h 13m

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Dukes of September: Preview with Fagen, McDonald, Scaggs

34s

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. Check local PBS listings for air dates in March 2014.

Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration

34s / TV-PG

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." Check local listings for March 2014.

GP at the Met: "The Nose"

30s

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. Great Performances at the Met airs Sunday, February 23, 2014, at 12 noon on PBS.

Sting Performs "The Last Ship" Live at the Public Theater

2m 59s

Sting performs the Broadway-bound "The Last Ship" on his birthday at The Public Theater. Drawing upon Sting's memories of the shipbuilding industry in his hometown outside Newcastle, England, "The Last Ship" is the Grammy Award-winning musician's latest album and forthcoming Broadway play of the same name. The entire live performance at The Public Theater airs February 21, 2014 at 9 pm on PBS.

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