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 E3

1h 23m / TV-PG

Oskar Eustis Compares Lin-Manuel Miranda to Shakespeare

1m 38s

Oskar Eustis, the Artistic Director at the Public Theater, compares Lin-Manuel Miranda to Shakespeare. Watch Hamilton's America: A Documentary Film Friday, October 21 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) or steam it online at pbs.org/hamilton.

Hamilton in :60: His Legacy

1m 13s

Alexander Hamilton was shot and killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804. From monuments and historic sites, to our currency and banking system, Hamilton's legacy lives on many forms. Thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit musical, Hamilton, this founding father has once again taken center stage.

Hamilton in :60: The Military Officer

1m 4s

Alexander Hamilton served as George Washington's assistant during the Revolutionary War. Hamilton was unfulfilled in this role and requested a field position. Washington granted his request for the 1781 Battle of Yorktown.

GRAMMY Salute to Music Legends: Tribute to Celia Cruz

2m 47s

Paying tribute to three-time GRAMMY winner and four-time Latin GRAMMY® winner Celia Cruz — internationally known as the “Queen Of Salsa” — are Latin GRAMMY nominee Lucrecia and GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winner Andy García, who will bring his Cuban musical group, Andy García And The CineSon All Stars, to the stage.

GRAMMY Salute to Music Legends: Earth, Wind & Fire Medley

3m

Six-time GRAMMY winners Earth, Wind & Fire, one of the most important and innovative musical forces influencing music and popular culture across generations, perform ”Fantasy” and ”September.”

GRAMMY Salute to Music Legends

30s

In collaboration with The Recording Academy, Great Performances presents “GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends,” a special all-star concert offering a primetime spotlight for The Academy’s 2016 Special Merit Awards recipients. The celebration and tribute concert features rare performances by honorees and never-before-seen renditions by those they’ve inspired.

Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2016

30s

Led by guest conductor Semyon Bychkov for the very first time, the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic returns for its 13th open-air concert, with a program of French orchestral classics, in the magnificent gardens of Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace.

Great Performances at the Met: Roberto Devereux

30s

The last opera in Donizetti’s Tudor trilogy, directed by Sir David McVicar, stars Sondra Radvanovsky as Elizabeth I and features Matthew Polenzani, Elina Garanca and Mariusz Kwiecien. Maurizio Benini conducts.

Great Performances at the Met: Madama Butterfly

30s

Kristine Opolais brings her heartbreaking interpretation of the title role to the series for the first time. Roberto Alagna sings Lieutenant Pinkerton, the callous officer who crushes Butterfly's dreams of love. Debuting conductor Karel Mark Chichon leads a cast that includes Maria Zifchak as Suzuki and Dwayne Croft as Sharpless.

Great Performances at the Met: Manon Lescaut

30s

Hear Kristine Opolais and Roberto Alagna as the ill-fated lovers in Puccini’s passionate adaptation of the classic novel about a free-spirited country girl. Sir Richard Eyre’s new production, conducted by Fabio Luisi, is set in the 1940s.

In Memoriam: Remembering Elie Wiesel

2m 1s

GREAT PERFORMANCES mourns the passing of writer, professor, political activist, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, whose tireless work to document the Holocaust as well as defend human rights and victims of oppression everywhere was recognized with a Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

Great Performances at the Met: Turandot

30s

Hear Swedish soprano Nina Stemme sing the demanding title role of Puccini’s Chinese ice princess, with Anita Hartig as the angelic slave girl Liù and Marco Berti as Calàf. Paolo Carignani conducts Franco Zeffirelli’s spectacular 1987 production.

'Before The Deluge' by Joan Baez and Jackson Browne

1m 56s

Joan Baez and Jackson Browne sing "Before The Deluge," a song written by Jackson Browne, during the Joan Baez 75th Birthday Celebration at the Beacon Theatre in New York on January 27, 2016.

Joan Baez with Indigo Girls and Mary Chapin Carpenter

1m 46s

Joan Baez, Indigo Girls and Mary Chapin Carpenter sing "The Water Is Wide," a traditional song rearranged by Joan Baez, during the Joan Baez 75th Birthday Celebration at the Beacon Theatre in New York on January 27, 2016.

GP at the Met: The Pearl Fishers promo

30s

Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and directed by Penny Woolcock, Bizet’s sweeping romance tells the story of a beautiful Hindu priestess pursued by rival pearl divers competing for her hand. Diana Damrau leads the cast as the priestess Leïla, opposite Matthew Polenzani as Nadir, Mariusz Kwiecien as Zurga, and Nicolas Testé as the high priest Nourabad.

Joan Baez and Judy Collins Sing 'Diamonds and Rust'

1m 25s

Joan Baez and Judy Collins sing "Diamonds and Rust", a song written by Joan Baez, during the Joan Baez 75th Birthday Celebration at the Beacon Theatre in New York on January 27, 2016.

Supported by