Arts and Music

Great Performances

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.

Now Hear This “Old Friends”

53m 54s

Explore how virtuosos become maestros and discover their guiding principles through host Scott Yoo’s long friendships with Grammy winner Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Richard Kogan and violinist Lynn Chang.

Episodes

  • Leonard Bernstein's Kaddish Symphony: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Leonard Bernstein's Kaddish Symphony

    S50 E23 - 49m 7s

    Performed from Highland Park’s Ravinia Festival, Great Performances presents legendary composer Leonard Bernstein’s Kaddish symphony featuring the talent of Uniting Voices (formerly Chicago Children’s Choir), Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

  • Richard III: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Richard III

    S50 E19 - 2h 19m

    Experience The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Shakespeare’s tragedy with one of his most indelible villains starring Danai Gurira in the title role. Recorded live in July 2022 from Central Park.

  • Celebrating 50 Years of Broadway's Best: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Celebrating 50 Years of Broadway's Best

    S50 E18 - 1h 25m

    Enjoy a revue of milestone Broadway shows and songs from 1973 to 2023 hosted by two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster. Features performances by André De Shields, Chita Rivera, Vanessa Williams and more from Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater.

  • Moving soon to WETA Passport

    Now Hear This “Albéniz: Portraits of Spain”: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Now Hear This “Albéniz: Portraits of Spain”

    S50 E16 - 54m 25s

    Discover the inspirations Spain provided composer Isaac Albéniz with host Scott Yoo, guitarist Manuel Barrueco, and pianist Juan Pérez Floristán along with musicians from Albéniz’s birthplace in the Pyrenees mountains as well as Sevilla, Mallorca and more.

  • Moving soon to WETA Passport

    Now Hear This “Andy Akiho Found (his) Sound”: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Now Hear This “Andy Akiho Found (his) Sound”

    S50 E15 - 53m 34s

    Experience the creation of music from this Japanese American composer with host Scott Yoo using “found” instruments. To develop a music video, the two visit New York City and explore the creative process with an interactive light show and more.

  • Moving soon to WETA Passport

    Now Hear This “Schumann: Genius and Madness”: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Now Hear This “Schumann: Genius and Madness”

    S50 E14 - 53m 25s

    Visit Scotland, Germany and France with host Scott Yoo as he investigates the connection between Robert Schumann’s bipolar disorder and creative genius via experts, musical performances and examining the work of other artists outside world of music.

  • Moving soon to WETA Passport

    Now Hear This “Piazzolla’s History with Tango”: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Now Hear This “Piazzolla’s History with Tango”

    S50 E13 - 53m 55s

    Tango to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with host Scott Yoo and flutist Alice Dade to explore the evolution of composer Astor Piazzolla’s work and the music genre itself as it becomes fused with jazz across time and numerous instruments.

  • Remember This: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Remember This

    S50 E10 - 1h 53m

    Experience Academy Award nominee David Strathairn as reluctant World War II hero and Holocaust witness, Jan Karski, in this one-man true story of moral courage and individual responsibility.

  • The Magic of Spirituals: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Magic of Spirituals

    S50 E9 - 54m 25s

    Glimpse behind the curtain at opera legends Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman’s famed concert at Carnegie Hall on March 18, 1990, featuring performance clips and new interviews with opera star Angel Blue, Met Opera General Manager Peter Gelb and more.

  • Josh Groban's Great Big Radio City Show: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Josh Groban's Great Big Radio City Show

    S50 E6 - 1h 50m

    Experience the world-renowned baritone performing songs from many musical genres alongside several special guest stars including Cyndi Lauper, Denée Benton, New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck and more.

  • NY Phil Reopening of David Geffen Hall: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    NY Phil Reopening of David Geffen Hall

    S50 E5 - 1h 22m

    Celebrate this newly reopened home of the New York Philharmonic with a performance of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” conducted by the NY Phil’s Music Director Jaap van Zweden along with a world premiere by Puerto Rican composer Angélica Negrón.

  • Intimate Apparel: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Intimate Apparel

    S50 E2 - 2h 11m

    Experience the story of seamstress Esther who begins writing to a mysterious suitor laboring on the Panama Canal. Featuring music by Ricky Ian Gordon, a libretto by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, this powerful opera is directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher.

Extras + Features

  • Great Performances at the Met: Fedora Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Great Performances at the Met: Fedora Preview

    S50 E17 - 30s

    Back at the Met for the first time in 25 years, Umberto Giordano’s drama stars soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the title role, a 19th-century Russian princess who falls in love with her fiancé’s murderer, Count Loris, sung by star tenor Piotr Beczała. Soprano Rosa Feola is the Countess Olga, Fedora’s confidant, and baritone Lucas Meachem is the diplomat De Siriex.

  • How Spain Shaped Albéniz: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How Spain Shaped Albéniz

    S50 E16 - 2m 57s

    Host Scott Yoo, guitarist Manuel Barrueco and pianist Juan Pérez Floristán discuss how Albéniz's work was influenced by Spain. Then, the musicians play Albéniz's "Asturias."

  • Ballet Flameco de Andalucia Performs Albéniz's "El Puerto": asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Ballet Flameco de Andalucia Performs Albéniz's "El Puerto"

    S50 E16 - 2m 43s

    Úrsula López, artistic director of Ballet Flamenco de Andalucia, exlplains why Albéniz is important to the history of flamenco. Then, the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucia performs a piece choreographed for Albéniz's "El Puerto."

  • Now Hear This "Andy Akiho Found (his) Sound" Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Now Hear This "Andy Akiho Found (his) Sound" Preview

    S50 E15 - 30s

    Experience the creation of music from this Japanese American composer with host Scott Yoo using “found” instruments. To develop a music video, the two visit New York City and explore the creative process with an interactive light show and more.

  • Andy Akiho and the Steelpan Drum: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Andy Akiho and the Steelpan Drum

    S50 E15 - 3m 37s

    Composer Andy Akiho explains to host Scott Yoo why he loves the steelpan drum. Both then play his piece "Deciduous."

  • Did Schumann Have Bipolar Disorder?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Did Schumann Have Bipolar Disorder?

    S50 E14 - 5m 4s

    Host Scott Yoo and Dr. Richard Kogan discuss the possibility that Schumann may have had bipolar disorder, as well as the creativity of the composer.

Schedule

  • Great Performances: TVSS: Iconic

    Great Performances

    Now Hear This: Old Friends

    Monday
    Apr 29

    1 Hour

    Exploring how virtuosos become maestros and their guiding principles through Scott Yoo's friendships with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Richard Kogan and violinist Lynn Chang.
  • Great Performances: TVSS: Iconic

    Great Performances

    Now Hear This: Old Friends

    Monday
    Apr 29

    1 Hour

    Exploring how virtuosos become maestros and their guiding principles through Scott Yoo's friendships with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Richard Kogan and violinist Lynn Chang.
  • Great Performances: TVSS: Iconic

    Great Performances

    The Composer Is Yoo

    Friday
    May 3

    1 Hour

    Scott Yoo's journey composing a piece of music for the first time; Yoo revisits his heritage in search of ideas, performs landmark pieces and tests his work in progress.
  • Great Performances: TVSS: Iconic

    Great Performances

    The Composer Is Yoo

    Friday
    May 3

    1 Hour

    Scott Yoo's journey composing a piece of music for the first time; Yoo revisits his heritage in search of ideas, performs landmark pieces and tests his work in progress.
  • Great Performances: TVSS: Iconic

    Great Performances

    The Composer Is Yoo

    Saturday
    May 4

    1 Hour

    Scott Yoo's journey composing a piece of music for the first time; Yoo revisits his heritage in search of ideas, performs landmark pieces and tests his work in progress.
  • Great Performances: TVSS: Iconic

    Great Performances

    The Composer Is Yoo

    Sunday
    May 5

    1 Hour

    Scott Yoo's journey composing a piece of music for the first time; Yoo revisits his heritage in search of ideas, performs landmark pieces and tests his work in progress.
  • Great Performances: Hamlet: TVSS: Iconic

    Great Performances

    Hamlet

    Friday
    May 10

    3 Hours

    A present-day take on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" features Ato Blankson-Wood in the title role and Solea Pfeiffer as Ophelia.
  • Great Performances: Hamlet: TVSS: Iconic

    Great Performances

    Hamlet

    Friday
    May 10

    3 Hours

    A present-day take on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" features Ato Blankson-Wood in the title role and Solea Pfeiffer as Ophelia.
  • Great Performances: Hamlet: TVSS: Iconic

    Great Performances

    Hamlet

    Saturday
    May 11

    3 Hours

    A present-day take on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" features Ato Blankson-Wood in the title role and Solea Pfeiffer as Ophelia.
  • Great Performances: Hamlet: TVSS: Iconic

    Great Performances

    Hamlet

    Saturday
    May 11

    3 Hours

    A present-day take on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" features Ato Blankson-Wood in the title role and Solea Pfeiffer as Ophelia.
  • Great Performances: Hamlet: TVSS: Iconic

    Great Performances

    Hamlet

    Sunday
    May 12

    3 Hours

    A present-day take on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" features Ato Blankson-Wood in the title role and Solea Pfeiffer as Ophelia.

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