Season 51

E1. Great Performances at the Met: Der Rosenkavalier

Sep 10, 2023

Strauss’s grand Viennese comedy includes soprano Lise Davidsen as the aging Marschallin, opposite mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as her lover Octavian and soprano Erin Morley as Sophie, the beautiful younger woman who steals his heart. Bass Günther Groissböck returns as the churlish Baron Ochs, and Markus Brück is Sophie’s wealthy father, Faninal. Maestro Simone Young takes the Met podium to oversee Robert Carsen’s staging. Deborah Voigt hosts.

E2. Great Performances at the Met: Don Giovanni

Oct 1, 2023

Tony Award–winning director Ivo van Hove makes his Met debut with a new take on Mozart’s tragicomedy, re-setting the familiar tale of deceit and damnation in an abstract architectural landscape. Maestro Nathalie Stutzmann also makes her Met debut, conducting the cast led by baritone Peter Mattei in the title role alongside bass-baritone Adam Plachetka as Leporello. Sopranos Federica Lombardi, Ana María Martínez and Ying Fang portray Giovanni’s conquests—Donna Anna, Donna Elvira and Zerlina—and tenor Ben Bliss is Don Ottavio. Erin Morley hosts.

E3. New York City Ballet in Madrid

Oct 27, 2023 · 85m

Captured in peak performance at Madrid’s Teatro Real, New York City Ballet performs two masterpieces choreographed by NYCB co-founder and original Artistic Director George Balanchine, “Serenade” and “Square Dance" as well as a piece by current resident choreographer Justin Peck.

E4. Message In A Bottle

Nov 3, 2023 · 86m

Experience five-time Olivier Award nominee Kate Prince’s dance and theater show set to the songs of 17-time Grammy winner Sting. Telling the story of a migrant family, the show from London’s Sadler's Wells Theatre features a mix of dance styles.

E5. Great Performances at the Met: Champion

Nov 5, 2023

Six-time Grammy Award–winning composer Terence Blanchard returns to the Met with an opera based on the true story of boxer Emile Griffith, who rose from obscurity to become a world champion despite being a closeted bisexual. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green stars as the young boxer, with bass-baritone Eric Owens as Griffith’s older self, haunted by the ghosts of his past. Soprano Latonia Moore also stars as Emelda Griffith, the boxer’s estranged mother, and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe plays the gay bar owner, Kathy Hagen. The production reunites the creative team from last season’s Great Performances at the Met: Fire Shut Up in My Bones, including conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, director James Robinson, and choreographer Camille A. Brown. Lawrence Brownlee hosts.

E6. Making Shakespeare: The First Folio

Nov 17, 2023 · 114m

Celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, which saved 18 plays from being lost. Tracing the First Folio’s story, the film also spotlights how New York City’s Public Theater presents Shakespeare’s work for today’s audiences.

E7. Great Performances at the Met: Die Zauberflöte

Dec 10, 2023

Experience director Simon McBurney’s Met debut with a new production of this Mozart favorite. Nathalie Stutzmann conducts with Lawrence Brownlee as Tamino, Erin Morley as Pamina, Thomas Oliemans as Papageno and Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night.

E8. From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2024

Jan 1, 2024

Celebrate the New Year with waltzes by Strauss and more performed from Vienna’s Musikverein by the famed orchestra led by guest conductor Christian Thielemann. PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville returns to host.

E9. Great Performances at the Met: The Life and Times of Malcolm X

Feb 4, 2024

Experience Anthony Davis’s groundbreaking opera directed by Tony nominee Robert O’Hara. The new staging portrays Malcolm as an Everyman whose story transcends time and space. Supported by a cast of young Met stars, Will Liverman sings Malcolm X.

E10. The LA Phil Celebrates Frank Gehry

Feb 16, 2024 · 85m

Celebrate 20 years at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the LA Phil in a tribute to its architect. Led by Gustavo Dudamel, the concert includes a piece composed and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, performances by Herbie Hancock and H.E.R., and more.

E11. George Jones: Still Playin’ Possum

Feb 23, 2024 · 85m

Honoring one of the most influential, storied and beloved country music icons in history, Great Performances – George Jones: Still Playin’ Possum is an all-star celebration. Jones’ hits including “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair,” “The Race Is On,” “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and many more are performed by Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Brad Paisley, Jelly Roll, Dierks Bentley, Sam Moore, Wynonna, Jamey Johnson, Uncle Kracker, Trace Adkins, Lorrie Morgan, Joe Nichols and other country stars accompanied by a band of Nashville’s top players. Recorded April 25, 2023, at from the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the tribute marked the 10th anniversary of Jones’ passing.

E12. Great Performances at the Met: Dead Man Walking

Mar 15, 2024

Experience Ivo van Hove’s production of composer Jake Heggie’s opera in its Met premiere. With a libretto by Terrence McNally, Joyce DiDonato stars as Sister Helen based on the real-life memoir about her fight for the soul of a condemned murderer.

E13. Great Performances at the Met: Florencia en el Amazonas

Apr 7, 2024

Inspired by the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez, Mexican composer Daniel Catán’s 1996 opera tells the story of an opera diva who returns to her native South America to perform at the legendary opera house of Manaus—and to search for her lost lover, who has vanished into the jungle. Starring soprano Ailyn Pérez, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Mary Zimmerman’s new production.

E14. Now Hear This

Apr 12, 2024

Explore the work of two legendary virtuosos, Niccolò Paganini and Robert Johnson, along with stars of today, Augustin Hadelich and Keb' Mo'. Joined by Cirque du Soleil acrobats, discover the secrets of being a virtuoso.

E15. Now Hear This

Apr 19, 2024

Visit Juilliard Pre-College with Scott Yoo to play with some of tomorrow’s virtuosos and travel to Singapore to meet rising star, Chloe Chua, who reminds Yoo of the dedication and passion required to prepare for a professional career.

E16. Now Hear This

Apr 26, 2024

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.

E17. Now Hear This

May 3, 2024

Follow Rachmaninoff’s journey from a Russian aristocrat to an American artist after the Bolshevik revolution. Forced to rebuild at 44, he embraced modern technology, toured extensively and reinvented his career while longing for his lost homeland.

E18. Great Performances at the Met: Nabucco

May 5, 2024

Ancient Babylon comes to life in this production of Verdi’s early masterpiece. Baritone George Gagnidze makes his Met role debut as the imperious king Nabucco, alongside soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska reprising her turn as his vengeful daughter, Abigaille. Daniele Callegari conducts and Angel Blue hosts.

E19. Hamlet

May 10, 2024 · 154m

From The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, experience this Shakespearean classic directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon featuring Tony Award nominee Ato Blankson-Wood (“Slave Play”) in the title role and Solea Pfeiffer as Ophelia (“Hadestown”).

E20. Audra McDonald at the London Palladium

May 17, 2024 · 83m

The winner of a record-breaking six Tony Awards as well as two Grammy awards and an Emmy, Audra McDonald performs a repertoire of classic Broadway songs, including “I Am What I Am,” “Summertime,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” and many more.

E21. Purlie Victorious

May 24, 2024 · 106m

A three-act comedic stage play tells the fictional story of Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson, a dynamic traveling preacher returning to his hometown in rural Georgia, to save his small hometown church. The Performance was filmed at the Music Box Theatre on January 23rd, 2024 with the original 2023 Broadway cast.

E22. Rodgers & Hammerstein's 80th Anniversary

May 31, 2024 · 116m

Directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 80th Anniversary features an all-star cast at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, including Michael Ball, Daniel Dae Kim, Maria Friedman, Audra McDonald, Julian Ovenden and more.