The BEST episodes of Great Performances season 47

#1 - Now Hear This "The Riddle of Bach"

Season 47 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/2019

Scott Yoo goes to Germany to learn Bach’s sonatas and partitas, widely considered among the greatest works ever written for solo violin. There, he discovers a riddle Bach left behind in his portrait. In trying to solve it, Scott discovers that Bach based his melodic style on Vivaldi and his rhythms on the music of the French court, which leads to a spectacular finale in Paris.

#2 - Now Hear This "Scarlatti: Man Out of Time"

Season 47 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/2019

Join Scott in Spain and Morocco to discover the greatest composer you’ve never heard of: Domenico Scarlatti. He was the finest keyboard player in Europe, hired by the Queen of Spain as her personal instructor. Scarlatti incorporated the sounds of Spain – Moorish, Jewish, Gypsy, folk, dance and guitar – to create a new musical language that inspired generations of musicians after him.

#3 - Now Hear This "Vivaldi: Something Completely Different"

Season 47 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/2019

Scott Yoo crosses Northern Italy, chasing the story of one of the most recorded pieces of music in the world, Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” and discovers how the composer merged religious melodies, opera and a new level of violin playing to launch a new era of music.

#4 - Now Hear This "Handel: Italian Style"

Season 47 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/11/2019

#5 - Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2020

Season 47 - Episode 31 - Aired 6/25/2021

#6 - Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2020

Season 47 - Episode 30 - Aired 6/25/2021

Enjoy the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of selections by Strauss, Wagner, Offenbach, Puccini and more from the Schönbrunn Palace Gardens under the baton of conductor Valery Gergiev featuring Metropolitan Opera tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

#7 - From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2020

Season 47 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/1/2020

As the world welcomes a new decade, Great Performances continues the tradition of ringing in the New Year with the Vienna Philharmonic at Vienna’s famous Musikverein. Under the baton of three-time GRAMMY Award-winning guest conductor and Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director Andris Nelsons, the concert spotlights the talent of the Vienna State Ballet and the Vienna Philharmonic with beloved waltzes by Strauss and more. PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville (Masterpiece: Downton Abbey) returns as host for a third year, touring Musikverein’s archives, which hold the largest collection of Beethoven manuscripts in the world, the Beethoven museum and other locations associated with the legendary composer in honor of his 250th birthday (December 17, 2020).

#8 - LA Phil 100

Season 47 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/8/2020

Celebrate the centennial of this landmark orchestra with “La Valse” by Ravel, Stravinsky’s “The Firebird” and more led by three renowned LA Phil conductors: current Music and Artistic director Gustavo Dudamel, Zubin Mehta and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

#9 - Great Performances at the Met: Der Fliegende Holländer

Season 47 - Episode 26 - Aired 7/5/2020

Experience Wagner’s eerie early masterpiece telling the tale of the sea captain cursed to sail for eternity. François Girard’s new production stars Evgeny Nikitin in the title role opposite Anja Kampe in her Met debut. Valery Gergiev conducts.

#10 - Great Performances at the Met: Tosca

Season 47 - Episode 28 - Aired 8/2/2020

Sir David McVicar’s new production of Puccini’s classic stars Sonya Yoncheva, Vittorio Grigolo and Željko Lučić. Opera diva Tosca must rescue her revolutionary lover Cavaradossi from the depraved police chief Scarpia. Isabel Leonard hosts.

#11 - Great Performances at the Met: Maria Stuarda

Season 47 - Episode 29 - Aired 9/6/2020

The first-ever Met production of Donizetti’s opera stars Joyce DiDonato as Mary, Queen of Scots with South African soprano Elza van den Heever as Elizabeth I, Mary’s formidable rival, and Matthew Polenzani as the Earl of Leicester.

#12 - Great Performances at the Met: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Season 47 - Episode 27 - Aired 7/17/2020

Enjoy this classic American folk opera that brings 1920s Charleston to life with a beloved score from George Gershwin in a new production directed by James Robinson. Eric Owens and Angel Blue star in the title roles and David Robertson conducts.

#13 - Ann

Season 47 - Episode 24 - Aired 6/19/2020

Enjoy a powerful and revealing look at legendary, larger-than-life Texas governor Ann Richards who enriched the lives of her followers, friends and family in this critically acclaimed play written by and starring Emmy Award-winner Holland Taylor.

#14 - Great Performances at the Met: Madama Butterfly

Season 47 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/2/2020

Soprano Hui He takes on the title role of the doomed geisha, with tenor Andrea Carè as the naval officer who abandons her, in this version of Anthony Minghella's production.

#15 - Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert

Season 47 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/30/2019

Great Performances: Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert showcases the iconic rock opera featuring music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. EGOT winner John Legend leads the cast as Jesus Christ with Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene and rock legend Alice Cooper as King Herod. The musical recounts the biblical story of the final weeks of Jesus’ life, focusing on the relationship between Jesus and Judas (Brandon Victor Dixon). When Judas turns on his teacher, his fateful decision sets both men on a path to tragedy. Also featured in the cast is Ben Daniels as Pontius Pilate, Broadway’s Norm Lewis (“Once on This Island,” “The Phantom of the Opera”) as Caiaphas, Jin Ha as Annas, Jason Tam as Peter, and Erik Grönwall as Simon Zealotes.

#16 - Much Ado About Nothing

Season 47 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/22/2019

For the first time in over four decades, Great Performances presents a Public Theater production recorded live at Free Shakespeare in the Park. After a highly successful, critically acclaimed run at the outdoor Delacorte Theater in New York City’s Central Park, "Much Ado About Nothing" is a bold interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedic masterpiece featuring Danielle Brooks as Beatrice.

#17 - Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I

Season 47 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/2019

Kelli O’Hara and Ken Watanabe star in a Tony Award-winning revival of the beloved musical about a British schoolteacher instructing the royal children of the King of Siam, featuring classic songs including “Hello, Young Lovers” and “Shall We Dance.”

#18 - 42nd Street

Season 47 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/1/2019

The 1981 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, 42nd Street is the song and dance, American dream fable of Broadway, featuring the iconic songs “42nd Street,” “We’re In the Money,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Shuffle Off To Buffalo,” “I Only Have Eyes For You” and many more. This all-singing and all-tapping musical extravaganza includes a cast of nearly 60 people. Young Peggy Sawyer is fresh off the bus from small-town America and just another face in the chorus line on Broadway’s newest show. But when the leading lady gets injured, Peggy just might have the shot at the top she’s always dreamed of. Starring Bonnie Langford as Broadway diva Dorothy Brock alongside Tom Lister as the demanding director Julian Marsh, Clare Halse as the ingénue Peggy Sawyer and Philip Bertioli as Billy Lawlor, this revival of director-choreographer Gower Champion’s original production was recorded at the end of its 2018 blockbuster run in London’s West End, with musical staging and new choreography by Tony nominee Randy Skinner (“Dames at Sea”) and directed by Mark Bramble, co-author of the book for the original Broadway and West End productions and director of the 2001 Tony Award-winning revival.

#19 - Great Performances at the Met: Akhnaten

Season 47 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/5/2020

Experience composer Philip Glass’ visionary masterpiece portraying the impact of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhnaten as he rises to the throne. Stars Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role. Karen Kamensek conducts.

#20 - Kinky Boots

Season 47 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/29/2019

Rejoice with the Tony Award-winning high-heeled hit musical with songs by pop icon Cyndi Lauper and a book by Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein about an unexpected duo that embraces their differences to create an extraordinary line of shoes.

#21 - Gloria: A Life

Season 47 - Episode 25 - Aired 6/26/2020

Experience playwright Emily Mann’s unique interpretation of feminist icon Gloria Steinem’s life, performed by an all-female cast starring Emmy Award winner Christine Lahti and directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus.

#22 - Great Performances at the Met: Manon

Season 47 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/5/2020

Season 14 of Great Performances at the Met premieres with Massenet’s French tale Manon. Soprano Lisette Oropesa stars as Manon, alongside tenor Michael Fabiano as Chevalier des Grieux, and Artur Ruciński (Lescaut), Brett Polegato (de Brétigny), Kwangchul Youn (Comte des Grieux) and Carlo Bosi (Guillot de Morfontaine) round out the cast. Maurizio Benini conducts. Laurent Pelly’s production is set in France and begins with Lescaut waiting for the arrival of his young cousin Manon, who is on her way to enter a convent. Awaiting her coach, Manon is excited about her first journey away from home. Chevalier des Grieux arrives late and misses the coach to Paris. He sees Manon and falls in love instantly. She tells him that her fondness for pleasure led her family to send her to a convent. Looking to escape her future life as a nun, Manon and des Grieux escape together in Guillot de Morfontaine’s coach to Paris. In an effort to marry Manon, des Grieux writes to Manon’s father. Lescaut, using the argument of family honor offended, berates des Grieux for having abducted Manon, since Lescaut is trying to profit by setting Manon up with de Brétigny, a nobleman. De Brétigny informs Manon that Comte des Grieux is planning to kidnap him that evening; if she does nothing to prevent it, de Brétigny will give her a life of wealth and luxury. Torn between the two men, Manon must choose between a life of luxury and wealth with de Brétigny or a life with her love des Grieux. Soprano Nadine Sierra hosts.

#23 - An Intimate Evening with David Foster

Season 47 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/30/2019

Great Performances: An Intimate Evening with David Foster presents a new concert special from 16-time GRAMMY Award-winning musician and producer David Foster. The starry evening features hit songs from Foster’s extensive musical career and includes special performances by renowned vocalists Katharine McPhee, Pia Toscano, Sheléa, Fernando Varela and Loren Allred. Laced with personal memories, humor and heart, Foster recounts the stories of how some of his greatest hits came to be, including Celine Dion’s “The Power of Love,” Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” Earth, Wind & Fire’s “After the Love is Gone,” Chicago’s “You’re the Inspiration” and more. Complete with behind-the-scenes archival images illustrating his collaborations with world-famous artists, Great Performances: An Intimate Evening with David Foster is a musical event to remember.

#24 - Red

Season 47 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/15/2019

Under the watchful gaze of his young assistant—and the growing competitive presence of a new generation of artists—Rothko takes on his greatest career challenge yet: to create a definitive series of paintings for the Philip Johnson-designed Four Seasons restaurant in architect Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Seagram Building.

#25 - Movies for Grownups Awards 2020 with AARP The Magazine

Season 47 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/19/2020