The WORST episodes of Great Performances

#1 - Great Performances at the Met: Rusalka

Season 44 - Episode 21 - Aired 6/18/2017

Kristine Opolais stars in her first Met performance as the title character in Antonin Dvořák's Rusalka. The critically acclaimed new staging, directed by Mary Zimmerman and conducted by Mark Elder.

#2 - The Cleveland Orchestra Centennial Celebration

Season 46 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/11/2019

Great Performances: The Cleveland Orchestra Centennial Celebration commemorates the centennial of the orchestra’s founding with a gala concert conducted by music director Franz Welser-Möst featuring works touching on more than a century of Viennese musical traditions. World-renowned, Grammy-nominated pianist Lang Lang joins the orchestra in a special performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24. The concert also features “Die Frau Ohne Schatten” (The Woman Without a Shadow), Symphonic Fantasy by Richard Strauss and Maurice Ravel’s viscerally cataclysmic “La Valse (The Waltz),” which dramatically evokes the changing artistic worlds between the 19th and 20th centuries.

#3 - Julie Andrews: Back on Broadway

Season 24 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/25/1995

#4 - Orphée et Eurydice from Lyric Opera of Chicago

Season 46 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/18/2019

Reimagine Christoph Willibald Gluck’s enduringly popular opera based on the famous Greek myth. From Lyric Opera of Chicago in collaboration with the Joffrey Ballet. Starring Dmitry Korchak, Andriana Chuchman and Lauren Snouffer.

#5 - Josh Groban in Concert

Season 31 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/30/2002

Josh Groban In Concert is a special package, including a DVD featuring footage from his PBS Great Performances appearance and a CD including songs not available on his self-titled debut album. It tentatively features "Broken Vow," "For Always (from the A.I. soundtrack) and his exclusive Christmas song "O Holy Night," as well as selected tracks from the live PBS special.

#6 - Dudamel Conducts a John Williams Celebration With the LA Phil

Season 42 - Episode 20 - Aired 7/24/2015

Natalie Portman hosts Dudamel Conducts a John Williams Celebration with the LA Phil on Great Performances Friday, July 24 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). Itzhak Perlman is the special guest in a gala opening night concert paying tribute to the prolific film composer. The Los Angeles Philharmonic Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel conducts.

#7 - Great Performances at the Met: La Donna del Lago

Season 42 - Episode 21 - Aired 8/2/2015

Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez headline Rossini’s bel canto tour-de-force "La Donna del Lago" on Great Performances at the Met (check local listings). Based on the work by Sir Walter Scott, DiDonato is Elena, the lady of the lake pursued by two men, with Flórez as Giacomo, the benevolent king of Scotland. Michele Mariotti conducts debuting Scottish director Paul Curran’s staging.

#8 - Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2015

Season 42 - Episode 22 - Aired 8/28/2015

Led by guest conductor Zubin Mehta, the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic returns for its 12th open-air summer concert, this time with a distinctly Scandinavian flavor, in the magnificent gardens of Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace. The varied program includes favorites by Grieg, Sibelius and Lumbye. The concert soloist is the internationally acclaimed Austrian piano virtuoso Rudolf Buckbinder.

#9 - Great Performances at the Met: Cavalleria Rusticana; Pagliacci

Season 42 - Episode 23 - Aired 9/6/2015

Sir David McVicar directs the first new Met production of the popular verismo double bill in 45 years: Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, both with Marcelo Álvarez as the male lead. Eva-Maria Westbroek and Patricia Racette also star. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the operas, both set in Sicily - one in a 1900 village square, the other at a 1948 truck stop.

#10 - Great Performances at the Met: Nabucco

Season 44 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/7/2017

The legendary Plácido Domingo brings another new baritone role to the Met as the title king in Nabucco, under the baton of his longtime collaborator James Levine on Great Performances at the Met Liudmyla Monastyrska is Abigaille, the warrior woman determined to rule empires, and Jamie Barton is the heroic Fenena. Russell Thomas is Ismaele, nephew to the King of Jerusalem and Dmitry Belosselskiy is the stentorian voice of the oppressed Hebrew people. The opera premiered at Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1842. The success of Verdi’s third opera, a stirring drama about the fall of ancient Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Nabucco), catapulted the 28-year-old composer to international fame. The music and Verdi himself were subsumed into a surge of patriotic fervor culminating in the foundation of the modern nation of Italy. Specifically, the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (“Va, pensiero”), in which the Israelites express their longing for their homeland, came to stand for the country’s aspirations for unity and that exciting era in Italian history, the Risorgimento, or “Resurgence.”

#11 - Spike & Co.: Do It Acapella

Season 19 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/10/1990

#12 - Andrea Bocelli – Landmarks Live in Concert

Season 44 - Episode 22 - Aired 6/30/2017

Andrea Bocelli - Landmarks Live in Concert - A Great Performances Special continues the new Landmarks arts strand on Friday, June 30 at 10 p.m. on PBS (Check local listings.) Landmarks Live in Concert special features an artist or band performing at a legendary destination of personal significance. The series is hosted by, Chad Smith, the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers who conducts one-on-one interviews with the artists exploring their favorite locations around each Landmark.

#13 - Great Performances at the Met: Eugene Onegin

Season 44 - Episode 23 - Aired 8/13/2017

Anna Netrebko stars as Tatiana, the naïve heroine of Tchaikovsky’s opera, with Peter Mattei as the title character who rejects her. Alexey Dolgov is Onegin’s friend-turned-rival, Lenski, with Elena Maximova as Tatiana’s sister, Olga, and Štefan Kocán as Prince Gremin. Robin Ticciati conducts.

#14 - Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2017

Season 44 - Episode 24 - Aired 8/18/2017

The world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic returns for its 14th open-air concert, in Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace Gardens. Christoph Eschenbach conducts a varied program of works from “Sleeping Beauty” to “Hansel and Gretel” to “Harry Potter.”

#15 - Great Performances at the Met: La Traviata

Season 44 - Episode 25 - Aired 8/25/2017

Sonya Yoncheva and Michael Fabiano play lovers Violetta and Alfredo in this revival of Willy Decker's staging of Verdi's ``La Traviata.''

#16 - Great Performances at the Met: Der Rosenkavalier

Season 44 - Episode 26 - Aired 9/3/2017

Renée Fleming performs one of her greatest signature roles, The Marschallin, in Der Rosenkavalier on the season finale of Great Performances at the Met. Elīna Garanča plays Octavian, the impulsive young title character. The opera was conducted by Sebastian Weigle and directed by Robert Carsen.

#17 - Great Performances at the Met: Cendrillon

Season 45 - Episode 28 - Aired 9/9/2018

Experience Massenet’s Cinderella with Joyce DiDonato in the title role, Alice Coote as Prince Charming, Kathleen Kim as the Fairy Godmother, and Stephanie Blythe as Madame de la Haltière. Bertrand de Billy conducts Laurent Pelly’s production.

#18 - Great Performances at the Met: Die Walküre

Season 46 - Episode 27 - Aired 8/11/2019

Experience a Wagnerian event for the ages starring Christine Goerke as the willful warrior Brünnhilde alongside Stuart Skelton, Eva-Maria Westbroek and Greer Grimsley. Philippe Jordan conducts.

#19 - Great Performances at the Met: Dialogues des Carmélites

Season 46 - Episode 30 - Aired 9/1/2019

Poulenc’s classic Dialogues des Carmélites. Metropolitan Opera Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts this devastating story of faith and martyrdom starring Isabel Leonard in the touching role of Blanche de la Force alongside Adrianne Pieczonka as Madame Lidoine, Erin Morley as Sister Constance, Karen Cargill as Mother Marie and Karita Mattila, returning to the Met as Madame de Croissy, the prioress of the monastery.

#20 - An American in Paris The Musical

Season 46 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/2/2018

The 2017 production of George Gershwin's "An American in Paris" features Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope.

#21 - Great Performances at The Met: Aida

Season 46 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/20/2019

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti, Aida stars vocal powerhouses Anna Netrebko in the title role and Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris as they go toe to toe in this classic love story featuring a number of Verdi’s most celebrated arias. Aleksandrs Antonenko, Dmitry Belosselskiy and Ryan Speedo Green round out the cast. Sonja Frisell’s production is set in ancient Egypt, where Ethiopian princess Aida has been enslaved, but her royal identity remains a secret. The captured princess is in love with Radamès, the great warrior who dreams of leading the Egyptians to victory over the Ethiopians as a war between the two nations is on the horizon. Trouble arises as the Egyptian Pharaoh’s daughter Amneris sets her sights on winning Radamès’s love, but suspects he is infatuated with another woman after the warrior does not return her feelings. A rivalry ensues when Aida confesses her love for Radamès and Amneris vows revenge. Torn between a love for one another and loyalty to their respective countries, Aida and Radamès must battle public duties and private feelings in this epic love story. Isabel Leonard hosts.

#22 - Great Performances at the Met: Adriana Lecouvreur

Season 46 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/12/2019

Cilea’s classic Adriana Lecouvreur starring Anna Netrebko in the title role of the real-life French actress, alongside Piotr Beczała as her lover Maurizio and Anita Rachvelishvili as her rival, the Princess of Bouillon. Carlo Bosi, Ambrogio Maestri, and Maurizio Muraro round out the cast. Gianandrea Noseda conducts. Sir David McVicar’s production takes place in 1730s Paris, where actress Adriana Lecouvreur is preparing for the stage. While alone, her director Michonnet professes his love to her, but Adriana informs him that she is in love with Maurizio, believing him to be an officer to the Count of Saxony. However, Maurizio is hiding two secrets; he is in fact the Count of Saxony himself, and he is also having an affair with the Princess of Bouillon, who has helped him pursue his political ambitions. Following a chance meeting at a party and subsequent escape plot, Adriana and the princess realize they are both in love with Maurizio but do not immediately recognize one another. Now rivals, Adriana and the princess are determined to discover one another’s identity while doing whatever it takes to win Maurizio’s heart. Matthew Polenzani hosts.

#23 - Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2019

Season 46 - Episode 29 - Aired 8/9/2019

Enjoy the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic’s annual concert from Schönbrunn Palace with guest conductor Gustavo Dudamel and famed pianist Yuja Wang playing works including Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue" and Sousa’s "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

#24 - Great Performances at the Met: Marnie

Season 46 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/1/2019

With conductor Robert Spano, singers Isabel Leonard and Christopher Maltman star in composer Nico Muhly's reimagining of Winston Graham's "Marnie," a novel about a beautiful, but mysterious woman who assumes multiple identities.

#25 - Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration

Season 46 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/2/2019

The songs of legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell’s are among the most sublime musical landscapes of human emotion ever created. Mitchell’s unique musical and lyrical gifts are an unprecedented marriage of intimacy and universality, creating a sound that is incomparable, yet relatable to all.