Enjoy our fall programming as we continue to practice social distancing with a binge of Now Hear This, Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, Macbeth and more. In these unprecedented times, we hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy. All of us at Great Performances are dedicated to carrying on our legacy of bringing the best of the performing arts to you.
Romeo and Juliet
Available through October 9
Experience a ballet of Shakespeare’s classic from choreographer Kenneth MacMillan performed by dancers from The Royal Ballet set to a score by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev filmed on atmospheric locations throughout Budapest.
Now Hear This “Vivaldi: Something Completely Different”
Available through October 9
In the series premiere of Great Performances: Now Hear This, host Scott Yoo crosses Northern Italy, chasing the story of one of the most recorded pieces of music in the world, Antonio 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. On the journey, Yoo discovers a new Vivaldi work, his connection to Stradivarius, a trove of original manuscripts and how Vivaldi’s music was almost lost to history.
Now Hear This “The Riddle of Bach”
Available through October 9
In the second episode of Great Performances: Now Hear This, host Scott Yoo goes to Germany to learn Johann Sebastian Bach’s sonatas and partitas, widely considered among the greatest works ever written for solo violin. There, Yoo discovers a riddle Bach left behind in his portrait. In trying to solve it, Yoo and his wife, leading flutist Alice Dade, discover 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.
Now Hear This “Scarlatti: Man Out of Time”
Available through October 9
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.
Now Hear This “Handel: Italian Style”
Available through October 9
Before becoming the most famous composer of his time, George Frideric Handel gained a lifetime of experience in Italy. Scott Yoo returns to Italy to follow in Handel’s footsteps, taking in the art, architecture, fashion, food, wine, light and landscape that, even beyond Italian music, shaped this German composer for the rest of his life.
Coming Soon
Now Hear This Series 2 “Haydn: King of Strings”
Available September 18 – October 16
Explore the work of famed composer Joseph Haydn’s career with host Scott Yoo and featured guest artists as he discovers how Haydn borrowed folk music from Scotland, Hungary and Austria to create his famous “Emperor Quartet.”
Now Hear This “The Schubert Generation”
Available September 25 – October 23
Celebrate the work of Franz Schubert with host Scott Yoo as he plays with young musicians establishing themselves in North America’s musical capitals by attempting to master the composer’s music.
Now Hear This “Becoming Mozart”
Available October 2 – 30
Travel with host Scott Yoo and pianist Stewart Goodyear as they visit Yoo’s Festival Mozaic where Goodyear learns to direct an orchestra from the piano while improvising the solos of Mozart’s twentieth piano concerto.
Other Programming
Macbeth
Available through December 31
Following a London West End run in December 2007, a sold-out limited engagement at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in March 2008, and an eight-week run on Broadway, director Rupert Goold’s stage production of Macbeth was filmed for television at the end of 2009 with Patrick Stewart in his Tony-nominated performance as the ambitious general, and Tony-nominated Kate Fleetwood as his scheming wife.
Twilight: Los Angeles
Available through June 2021
Anna Deavere Smith’s powerful one-woman theater piece about the 1991 Rodney King beating, the violent aftermath of the 1992 verdict, and the lasting impact of the L.A. riots on America’s conscience. Award-winning director Marc Levin weaves Smith’s stage performance with news footage and interviews to create a portrait of rage, sorrow, loss, and battered hope.
Musical Greetings from the Vienna Philharmonic
Available through December 31
As the world goes through a huge crisis and performing live music is no longer an option, the Vienna Philharmonic sends a small musical greeting from Vienna with their kindest regards and love.
Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2014
Available through December 31
Led for the first time by guest conductor Christoph Eschenbach, the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic returns for their 11th open-air concert in the magnificent gardens of Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. The concert soloist is acclaimed piano virtuoso Lang Lang, with whom Eschenbach shares a long-standing artistic friendship.
Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2017
Available through December 31
Led for the second time by German pianist and conductor Christoph Eschenbach, the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic returns for its 14th open-air concert with a program inspired by fairytales and myths in Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace Gardens. The concert soloist is renowned soprano Renée Fleming who performs two arias from operas by Antonin Dvořák: The famous ‘Song to the Moon’ of the water nymph Rusalka and the aria of the sorceress Armida from the operas of those names, as well as three songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff: “Twilight,” “Sing not to me, beautiful maiden” and “Spring Waters.”
Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2018
Available through December 31
Enjoy the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic’s annual open-air concert from Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace, featuring conductor Valery Gergiev and internationally acclaimed soprano Anna Netrebko as a guest soloist.
Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2019
Available through December 31
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.”
