The BEST episodes of Great Performances season 49
Every episode of Great Performances season 49, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Great Performances season 49!
Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on PBS since 1972. The show is produced by WNET in New York City. It is one of the longest running performing arts anthologies on television, second only to Hallmark Hall of Fame. Great Performances presents concerts, ballet, opera, an occasional documentary, and plays. The series has also won many television awards, including an Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and an Image Award, with nods from the Directors Guild of America and the Cinema Audio Society.
#1 - Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2022
Season 49 - Episode 33 - Aired 8/26/2022
Enjoy the Vienna Philharmonic’s annual summer night concert with cellist Gautier Capuçon under the direction of guest conductor Andris Nelsons at Austria’s Schönbrunn Palace.
Watch Now:Amazon#2 - Great Performances at the Met: Sondra Radvanovsky & Piotr Beczala in Concert
Season 49 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/1/2021
From the historic Stadthalle in Wuppertal, Germany, recorded in January, this world-famous soprano-tenor pair perform arias and duets from some of their many performances at the Met including Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier,” Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino,” “Luisa Miller” and Dvořák’s “Rusalka," accompanied by Vincenzo Scalera on piano.
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#3 - Great Performances at the Met: Three Divas at Versailles
Season 49 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/8/2021
Three-time GRAMMY winner Isabel Leonard joins Nadine Sierra and Ailyn Pérez to perform timeless selections by Mozart, Offenbach and Bizet including “Voi che sapete” and “Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour” along with beloved songs like “Bésame Mucho” and “Cielito Lindo.” The concert was recorded in May at the Royal Opera of Versailles in France and Met Opera soprano Christine Goerke hosts.
Watch Now:Amazon#4 - Great Performances at the Met: Wagnerians in Concert
Season 49 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/5/2021
Recorded in May, a quartet of some of opera’s most powerful and dramatic singers comes together at the Hessisches Staatstheater in Wiesbaden, Germany. Sopranos Christine Goerke and Elza van den Heever, tenor Andreas Schager, and baritone Michael Volle perform a program of selections by Wagner and Strauss.
Watch Now:Amazon#5 - A John Williams Premiere at Tanglewood
Season 49 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/12/2021
Experience a concert of works by legendary composer John Williams from Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home at Tanglewood including Williams’ new violin concerto performed by virtuoso Anne-Sophie Mutter and other works conducted by Andris Nelsons.
Watch Now:Amazon#6 - Verdi's Requiem: The Met Remembers 9/11
Season 49 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/11/2021
Honor the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with this special performance hosted by Misty Copeland and led by Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin featuring soloists Ailyn Pérez, Michelle DeYoung, Matthew Polenzani and Eric Owens.
Watch Now:Amazon#7 - San Francisco Symphony Reopening Night
Season 49 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/19/2021
Celebrate opening night of San Francisco Symphony’s 110th season as it welcomes its new GRAMMY-winning music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, featuring music by John Adams, esperanza spalding & Wayne Shorter and performances by Alonzo King LINES Ballet.
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#8 - Now Hear This "Florence Price and the American Migration"
Season 49 - Episode 23 - Aired 4/15/2022
From Little Rock to Chicago, host Scott Yoo follows the trail of the great African American composer Florence Price.
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#9 - Now Hear This "Aaron Copland: Dean of American Music"
Season 49 - Episode 24 - Aired 4/22/2022
Scott Yoo explores the life and work of Aaron Copland, and how he created the American sound.
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#10 - Merry Wives
Season 49 - Episode 28 - Aired 5/20/2022
Experience Shakespeare’s comedic masterpiece from the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park. Set in South Harlem, the play tells the story of the trickster Falstaff and the wily wives who outwit him in a celebration of Black joy, laughter and vitality.
#11 - Keeping Company with Sondheim
Season 49 - Episode 29 - Aired 5/27/2022
Take an inside look at the reimagined gender-swapped production as it returns to Broadway during the COVID-19 pandemic. Features new interviews with Tony and Grammy-winning cast members Katrina Lenk, Patti LuPone, Sondheim and more.
#12 - Coppelia
Season 49 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/26/2021
Enjoy this contemporary reboot of the 1870 classical ballet favorite. Blending live action ballet with CGI, the film features ballet stars Michaela DePrince and Daniel Camargo.
#13 - The Red Shoes
Season 49 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/17/2021
Experience Hans Christian Andersen’s dark fairytale from acclaimed director-choreographer Matthew Bourne with this Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation starring Ashley Shaw, Adam Cooper, Dominic North and Michaela Meazza.
#14 - Yannick – An Artist's Journey
Season 49 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/3/2021
Experience the music director of the Metropolitan Opera’s meteoric rise to become one of the most acclaimed and sought-after music directors of his generation in this documentary from cinema verité filmmaker Susan Froemke.
#15 - Now Hear This "Beethoven's Ghost"
Season 49 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/29/2021
Go inside the mind of a genius as host Scott Yoo and fellow musicians undertake a recording of Beethoven's most personal music at a historic Berkshires manor to explore the composer’s brilliant career—where they are visited by some unexpected guests.
#16 - Great Performances at the Met: Sonya Yoncheva in Concert
Season 49 - Episode 35 - Aired 9/3/2021
Enjoy the talent of Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva as she performs arias by Verdi, Puccini and more from the Baroque Library in Schussenried Cloister in southwest Germany accompanied by Julien Quentin on piano.
#17 - Great Performances at the Met: Turandot
Season 49 - Episode 34 - Aired 9/4/2022
Enjoy opera superstar Liudmyla Monastyrska in the title role of the legendary cold-hearted princess. Marco Armiliato conducts Puccini’s score with tenor Yonghoon Lee as Calàf, the bold prince determined to win the princess' love. Nadine Sierra hosts.
#18 - Great Performances at the Met: Don Carlos
Season 49 - Episode 32 - Aired 8/7/2022
For the first time in its history, the Met presents the original five-act French version of Verdi’s epic opera of doomed love among royalty, set against the backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition. Watch this starry cast including tenor Matthew Polenzani in the title role, soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Élisabeth de Valois and Jamie Barton as Eboli.
#19 - Great Performances at the Met: Ariadne Auf Naxos
Season 49 - Episode 31 - Aired 7/3/2022
Soprano Lise Davidsen brings one of her signature roles to the Met for the first time as the mythological Greek heroine of Strauss’ masterpiece.
#20 - Great Performances at the Met: Rigoletto
Season 49 - Episode 30 - Aired 6/17/2022
Baritone Quinn Kelsey portrays the title role at the Met for the first time, starring alongside soprano Rosa Feola as Gilda and tenor Piotr Beczała as the Duke of Mantua. Maestro Daniele Rustioni leads Verdi’s timeless tragedy reset in 1920s Europe by Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher. Varduhi Abrahamyan plays Maddalena and Andrea Mastroni plays Sparafucile.
#21 - Anything Goes
Season 49 - Episode 27 - Aired 5/13/2022
Enjoy this London production of Cole Porter’s classic musical led by Sutton Foster who reprises her Tony-winning role as Reno Sweeney directed by Kathleen Marshall with favorite songs like “I Get A Kick Out of You” and “You’re the Top.”
#22 - Great Performances at the Met: Cinderella
Season 49 - Episode 26 - Aired 5/8/2022
Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard stars as the rags-to-riches princess in Laurent Pelly’s storybook staging of Massenet’s “Cendrillon.” Featuring an all-new English translation by Kelley Rourke and conducted by Maestro Emmanuel Villaume, the cast also includes mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo as Cinderella’s Prince Charming, soprano Jessica Pratt as her Fairy Godmother, and more.
#23 - Now Hear This "New American Voices"
Season 49 - Episode 25 - Aired 4/29/2022
Scott Yoo discovers how American composers are inspired by their immigrant roots today through two composers: Brazilian-born Sergio Assad and Indian American Reena Esmail.
#24 - Now Hear This "Amy Beach: American Romantic"
Season 49 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/8/2022
Host Scott Yoo and his wife, flutist Alice Dade, perform the work of Romantic era classical composer Amy Beach at Festival Mosaic and uncover Beach’s many musical influences. Featuring performances of Beach’s works, the duo visits places Beach took inspiration from throughout her life, including an artist residency at MacDowell in New Hampshire.
#25 - Great Performances at the Met: Fire Shut Up In My Bones
Season 49 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/1/2022
Experience Grammy-winning composer Terence Blanchard and librettist Kasi Lemmon’s adaptation of Charles M. Blow’s memoir. James Robinson and Camille A. Brown co-direct with Brown also choreographing. Baritone Will Liverman stars with soprano Angel Blue.