TV series
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 theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.
Streaming, rental and purchase options
Checked Sep 1, 2026
Great Performances is available to stream on DirecTV On Demand and YouTube TV in United States. Use the direct links below to open the provider.
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 theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Episode 1
Discover Grace Bumbry’s inspiring rise to global opera fame. Spotlighting her historic performances, the film explores the racial barriers she overcame to triumph in her 1966 performance as "Carmen."
Directed by Dag Freyer
Episode 2
Rossini’s effervescent comedy retakes the stage in Bartlett Sher’s madcap production. Aigul Akhmetshina headlines a winning ensemble as the feisty heroine, Rosina, alongside Jack Swanson, in his Met debut, as her secret beloved, Count Almaviva. Andrey Zhilikhovsky stars as Figaro, the infamous barber of Seville, with Peter Kálmán as Dr. Bartolo and Alexander Vinogradov as Don Basilio.
Guest stars Aigul Akhmetshina, Jack Swanson, Andrey Zhilikhovsky, Peter Kálmán, Alexander Vinogradov
Episode 3
Follow acclaimed ballerina Tiler Peck as she overcomes injury to reclaim her place on stage and debut her own choreography with New York City Ballet, revealing the resilience and artistry behind a modern-day prima ballerina.
Directed by Alex RamseyGuest stars Tiler Peck
Episode 4
The Shakespearean comedy of mistaken identity tells the romantic misadventures of twins Sebastian and Viola after they survive a shipwreck, including revenge plots and tricks of love. Recorded this summer at the newly renovated Delacorte Theater in Central Park, the production is directed by Tony Award nominee Saheem Ali.
Directed by Matthew Diamond, Saheem AliGuest stars Lupita Nyong'o, Junior Nyong'o, Peter Dinklage, Sandra Oh, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Daphne Rubin-Vega, John Ellison Conlee, Khris Davis
Episode 5
Experience the holiday classic in a new light, featuring over 100 dancers and musicians performing at the London Coliseum.
Guest stars Delilah Wiggins, Ivana Bueno, Junor Souza, Francesco Gabriele Frola, Rhys Antoni Yeomans, Emma Hawes, Aitor Arrieta, Anna Nevzorova
Episode 6
The famed Vienna Philharmonic rings in the New Year with its annual concert from Vienna's Musikverein conducted for the first time by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with performances by the Vienna State Ballet and location segments hosted by Hugh Bonneville.
Guest stars Hugh Bonneville, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Episode 7
Iconic and beloved screen and stage performer Alan Cumming returns as host for this awards show in which Adam Sandler receives the Career Achievement Award.
Guest stars Alan Cumming
Episode 8
A number one album and a double Grammy-win in 2023 put jazz vocalist Samara Joy on the map, officially establishing the Bronx native as the next jazz sensation and a legend in the making, with frequent comparisons to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Fresh from another double win at the 2025 Grammys, Joy makes her much-anticipated debut at London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall.
Where to watch Great Performances
Episode 9
Experience Zeffirelli’s beloved production set in 19th-century Paris telling the story of Puccini’s young artists and lovers that share joy, passion, and heartbreak featuring Juliana Grigoryan as Mimì and Freddie De Tommaso as Rodolfo.
Where to watch Great Performances
Episode 10
In this new adaptation of Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel set shortly before the outbreak of World War II, two Jewish cousins invent an anti-fascist superhero and launch their own comic-book series, hoping to recruit America into the fight against Nazism.
Where to watch Great Performances
Episode 11
Johannes Brahms was a quiet, private person, but he lived a full life, bearing a responsibility he didn’t want, a woman he couldn’t be with, and a legacy he couldn’t live up to. Scott Yoo journeys across Germany with pianist Elisabeth Brauss and cellists Johannes Moser and Max Hornung to find a window into Brahms’ inner life.
Guest stars Scott Yoo
Episode 12
Nadine Sierra stars as Amina in Bellini’s tale of love lost and found. This new production by Rolando Villazón—the tenor who has embarked on a second career as a director—retains the opera’s original setting in the Swiss Alps but uses its plot to explore the emotional and psychological valleys of the mind.
Directed by Rolando VillazónGuest stars Nadine Sierra, Xabier Anduaga, Sydney Mancasola, Alexander Vinogradov
Episode 13
Scott Joplin was the king of ragtime, a new kind music for the turn of the 20th century. Rick Benjamin’s Paragon Ragtime Orchestra takes Scott Yoo back in time to experience the music, movies and style of that era.
Guest stars Scott Yoo, Weyni Mengesha
Episode 15
Istanbul sits at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, a melting pot of diverse peoples, languages and ideas. With star Turkish pianist Fazil Say, conductor Çem Mansur, and a host of Anatolian folk and Turkish jazz musicians, Scott Yoo and his wife, flutist Alice Dade, explore the city.
Guest stars Fazıl Say, Alice Dade, Scott Yoo
Episode 16
Fewer people live in Iceland than in Wichita, Kansas, yet it produces some of the best musicians in the world. To find out how, Scott Yoo crosses this sunlit, rainy, volcanic land of extremes to meet composers Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Daniel Bjarnason, popular musician JFDR, instrument makers, music historians, and one of Iceland’s most famous chefs.
Guest stars Scott Yoo, Daníel Bjarnason
Episode 17
Josh Groban returns to PBS in a special, personal concert staged in the intimate and historic setting of London’s Union Chapel. Recorded in October 2025, the concert captures the acclaimed vocalist showcasing his most beloved songs alongside new material, all reimagined within the chapel’s acoustics. Between songs, Groban speaks about what makes these songs personal to him.
Directed by Dick CarruthersGuest stars Josh Groban
Episode 18
Created by Tony Award winner Shaina Taub, this musical recorded from Broadway tells the story of the American suffragist movement and the remarkable friendships, heartbreak, and action that brought women together—or, in some cases, tore them apart.
Directed by Leigh SilvermanWritten by Shaina TaubGuest stars Shaina Taub, Nikki M. James, Emily Skinner, Jenn Colella, Hannah Cruz, Grace McLean
Episode 19
Inspired by the iconic 1935 movie musical starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, this acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre revival recorded from the West End in January 2026 is directed and choreographed by three-time Tony winner Kathleen Marshall.
Directed by Kathleen MarshallGuest stars Phillip Attmore, Amara Okereke
Episode 20
Strauss’ romance brings the glamour of 19th-century Vienna to the Met stage in a production by legendary Otto Schenk. Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen makes her role debut as Arabella, a young noblewoman in search of love on her own terms. Soprano Louise Alder makes her Met debut as her sister, Zdenka, and bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny is the count who sweeps Arabella off her feet.
Guest stars Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Louise Alder, Tomasz Konieczny
Episode 21
Recorded in October 2025, Nicole Scherzinger performs at London’s Royal Albert Hall for the first time in her first major UK solo show in 13 years. Accompanied by a full orchestra, Scherzinger sings a mix of beloved Broadway standards and pop hits from her career as lead singer of The Pussycat Dolls.
Guest stars Nicole Scherzinger
Episode 22
Giordano’s tragedy stars tenor Piotr Beczała as the virtuous poet who falls victim to the intrigue and violence of the French Revolution. Soprano Sonya Yoncheva stars as Chénier’s aristocratic lover, Maddalena di Coigny, with baritone Igor Golovatenko as Carlo Gérard. Daniele Rustioni takes the podium to lead Nicolas Joël’s staging.
Directed by Nicolas JoëlGuest stars Piotr Beczała, Sonya Yoncheva, Igor Golovatenko
Episode 23
Charles Edwards makes his company directorial debut after many successes as a set designer, while soprano Lisette Oropesa and tenor Lawrence Brownlee star as Elvira and Arturo, brought together by love and torn apart by the political rifts of the English Civil War. Marco Armiliato conducts with baritone Artur Ruciński.
Directed by Charles EdwardsGuest stars Lisette Oropesa, Lawrence Brownlee, Artur Ruciński, Christian van Horn
Episode 24
Soprano Asmik Grigorian returns to the Met as Tatiana, the lovestruck young heroine in Tchaikovsky’s opera adaptation of Pushkin’s novel. Baritone Igor Golovatenko reprises his portrayal of Onegin, who realizes his affection for her all too late. Tony Award winner Deborah Warner directs.
Directed by Deborah WarnerGuest stars Asmik Grigorian, Igor Golovatenko
Episode 25
Enjoy the famed orchestra's beloved annual concert conducted by Lorenzo Viotti featuring bass-baritone Bryn Terfel as guest soloist performing arias from Verdi’s "Falstaff" as well as Tevye’s song from "Fiddler on the Roof."
Where to watch Great PerformancesEpisode information updated Sep 15, 2026
Bray PoorNarrator (voice)
Rue McClanahanFaye Precious
Frederick CoffinOswald
Geraldine FitzgeraldAmy Bisley
Frank LangellaThe Prince of Homburg
Charles KimbroughBenton Arrelsford
Stephen SondheimMaxie Schwartz
PBSUnited States
ThirteenUnited States
