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The Best Episodes of Great Performances Season 49

Every episode of Great Performances Season 49 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Great Performances Season 49!

The Best Episodes of Great Performances Season 49

The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical...

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  1. 8.8/10(13 votes)

    #1 - From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2022

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    S49:E15

    Ring in the new year in Austria at the Musikverein with the Vienna Philharmonic and host Hugh Bonneville in this annual concert of waltzes by Strauss and more under the baton of guest conductor Daniel Barenboim.

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  2. 8.8/10(9 votes)

    #2 - Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2022

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    S49:E33

    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.

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  3. 8.4/10(16 votes)

    #3 - Verdi’s Requiem: The Met Remembers 9/11

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    S49:E2

    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.

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  4. 8.3/10(20 votes)

    #4 - Yannick – An Artist’s Journey

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    S49:E1

    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.

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  5. 8.3/10(8 votes)

    #5 - Great Performances at the Met: Bryn Terfel & Friends in Concert

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    S49:E13

    Recorded December 2020, the legendary bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel performs a holiday program accompanied by Jeff Howard on piano and the Welsh traditional folk group Calan from Brecon Cathedral in the singer’s native Wales.

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  6. 7.9/10(48 votes)

    #6 - Anything Goes

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    S49:E27

    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.”

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  8. 7.8/10(12 votes)

    #7 - A John Williams Premiere at Tanglewood

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    S49:E8

    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.

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  9. 7.8/10(54 votes)

    #8 - Keeping Company with Sondheim

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    S49:E29

    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.

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  10. 7.6/10(8 votes)

    #9 - Now Hear This "Aaron Copland - Dean of American Music"

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    S49:E24

    Scott Yoo explores the life and work of Aaron Copland, and how he created the American sound.

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  11. 7.4/10(23 votes)

    #10 - San Francisco Symphony Reopening Night

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    S49:E9

    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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  12. 7.2/10(16 votes)

    #11 - Great Performances at the Met: Three Divas at Versailles

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    S49:E5

    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.

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  13. 7.1/10(24 votes)

    #12 - Great Performances at the Met: Sondra Radvanovsky & Piotr Beczala in Concert

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    S49:E4

    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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  14. 7.0/10(23 votes)

    #13 - The Red Shoes

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    S49:E3

    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.

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  15. 7.0/10(7 votes)

    #14 - Unforgettable With Love - Natalie Cole

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    S49:E12

    Enjoy this special encore of Natalie Cole’s Emmy-winning concert of her GRAMMY-winning album in Great Performances: Unforgettable With Love - Natalie Cole. Featuring classics such as “Mona Lisa,” “The Very Thought of You” and “For Sentimental Reasons,” the concert also features a special performance of Nat King Cole’s signature song “Unforgettable” sung as a duet by Natalie Cole and her father.

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  16. 6.7/10(6 votes)

    #15 - Now Hear This "New American Voices"

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    S49:E25

    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.

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  17. 6.4/10(12 votes)

    #16 - Great Performances at the Met: Wagnerians in Concert

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    S49:E7

    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.

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  18. 6.3/10(9 votes)

    #17 - Coppelia

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    S49:E10

    Enjoy this contemporary reboot of the 1870 ballet favorite that blends live-action ballet with CGI and features ballet stars Michaela DePrince and Daniel Camargo.

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  19. 6.2/10(18 votes)

    #18 - Merry Wives

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    S49:E28

    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.

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  20. 5.5/10(15 votes)

    #19 - Now Hear This "Beethoven's Ghost"

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    S49:E6

    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.

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  21. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #20 - Great Performances at the Met: New Year's Eve Gala

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    S49:E14

    The Met rings in the new year with a gala performance featuring stars Angel Blue, Pretty Yende, Javier Camarena and Matthew Polenzani. Performing from the Parktheater in Kurhaus Göggingen in Augsburg, Germany, the program features arias, duets and ensembles from Donizetti to Puccini, as well as arrangements of operetta and Neapolitan songs.

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  22. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #21 - Reopening: The Broadway Revival

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    S49:E16

    Go behind the scenes of Broadway as shows reunite, rehearse and re-stage for their long-awaited reopening nights while the theater industry learns how to turn the lights back on after its longest hiatus in history due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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  23. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #22 - Great Performances at the Met: Boris Godunov

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    S49:E17

    Bass René Pape, the world’s reigning Boris, reprises his portrayal of the tortured tsar caught between ambition and paranoia. Conductor Sebastian Weigle leads Mussorgsky’s Russian masterwork in its original 1869 version. Stephen Wadsworth’s production captures the hope and suffering of the Russian people as well as the tsar himself. Met Opera soprano Angel Blue hosts.

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  24. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #23 - Great Performances at the Met: Eurydice

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    S49:E18

    The ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, who attempts to harness the power of music to rescue his beloved Eurydice from the Underworld, has inspired composers since opera’s earliest days. With a libretto by Sarah Ruhl adapted from her acclaimed 2003 play, the opera reimagines the familiar tale from Eurydice’s point of view.

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  25. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #24 - Movies for Grownups® Awards 2022 with AARP The Magazine

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    S49:E19

    First broadcast on PBS in 2018, Movies for Grownups Awards with AARP the Magazine returns for a fifth year to celebrate and encourage filmmaking with unique appeal to movie-lovers with a grownup state of mind—and recognize the inspiring artists who make them. Each year the centerpiece honor is the Career Achievement Award, celebrating the contributions cinema legends.

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  26. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #25 - The Conductor

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    S49:E20

    Follow Marin Alsop’s journey to become the first female music director of a major American symphony despite repeated rejection by the classical music industry. Features archival footage with her mentor Leonard Bernstein and is set to a soundtrack of her performances.

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Season 49 Ratings Summary

"From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2022" is the best rated episode of "Great Performances" season 49. It scored 8.8/10 based on 13 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 1/1/2022. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2022".