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The Best Episodes of Great Performances Season 52

Every episode of Great Performances Season 52 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Great Performances Season 52!

Binge this in 1d 21h•Peaking at 8.3/10

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.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Great Performances Season 52 Episode 3 - Patsy Cline: Walkin' After Midnight
    8.3/10(13 votes)

    S52:E3

    Experience the music of Patsy Cline in a star-studded tribute concert featuring Wynonna and more.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 13 - Now Hear This: Rachmaninoff Reborn
    8.0/10(14 votes)

    S52:E13

    Follow Rachmaninoff’s journey from a Russian aristocrat to an American artist after the Bolshevik revolution. Forced to rebuild at 44, he embraced modern technology, toured extensively and reinvented his career while longing for his lost homeland.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 16 - Yellow Face
    7.9/10(58 votes)

    S52:E16

    Enjoy Tony winner David Henry Hwang’s comedy starring Daniel Dae Kim as an Asian American playwright who protests “yellowface” casting in the musical “Miss Saigon” only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play.

    Director:Leigh Silverman
    Writer:David Henry Hwang

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  4. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 4 - Henry Mancini 100 at the Hollywood Bowl
    7.8/10(29 votes)

    S52:E4

    Celebrate the centennial birthday of composer Henry Mancini with Michael Bublé, Cynthia Erivo, saxophonist Dave Koz, Monica Mancini and host Jeff Goldblum featuring Mancini’s signature songs and clips from his beloved movies and TV shows.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 9 - Now Hear This “Chopin’s Polish Heart”
    7.8/10(13 votes)

    S52:E9

    Follow Scott Yoo and pianist Jan Lisiecki as they explore Chopin’s life, his Polish roots, and his journey to Paris taking a closer look at the composer's musical evolution and his deep connection to his homeland while living in France.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 10 - The Magic of Nureyev
    7.7/10(20 votes)

    S52:E10

    Experience Rudolf Nureyev’s revolutionary 1964 production of "Swan Lake" with ballerina Margot Fonteyn through extensive excerpts and interviews with their fellow dancers Michael Birkmeyer, Gisela Cech and others as they analyze Nureyev’s virtuosity.

    Director:Anne-Kathrin Peitz
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 14 - Now Hear This "Barrios: Chopin of the Guitar"
    7.5/10(7 votes)

    S52:E14

    Explore Agustin Barrios’ journey from rural Paraguay to global recognition as a guitar composer. Despite facing rejection and personal struggles, his innovative compositions and passion for Latin American folk music made him a 20th-century icon.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 12 - Now Hear This "Boccherini: Night Music"
    7.3/10(9 votes)

    S52:E12

    Join Scott Yoo and musicians on a night tour of Madrid to uncover Boccherini’s deep love for the city and learn how his iconic "Night Music of the Streets of Madrid" was inspired by his time in Spain, blending history and the pulse of the streets.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 19 - Kiss Me, Kate
    6.8/10(28 votes)

    S52:E19

    Enjoy this Cole Porter classic musical featuring iconic songs like “Another Op'nin', Another Show," “So In Love” and more. Tony winner Stephanie J. Block and Adrian Dunbar co-star in a backstage romantic comedy directed by Bartlett Sher.

    Director:Bartlett Sher
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 1 - Émigré: A Musical Drama with the NY Phil
    6.7/10(8 votes)

    S52:E1

    Enjoy this semi-staged oratorio with the New York Philharmonic and an international cast telling the story of Jewish refugees in World War II Shanghai set to music by Aaron Zigman with lyrics by Mark Campbell and additional lyrics by Brock Walsh.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 2 - Land of Gold
    5.7/10(9 votes)

    S52:E2

    Explore Peter Sellars' San Francisco Opera production of John Adams' "Girls of the Golden West" set during Gold Rush. Go behind the scenes with cast members Julia Bullock, J'Nai Bridges and others as they bring the show to life on stage.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 18 - Girl from the North Country
    4.5/10(11 votes)

    S52:E18

    Experience 20 reimagined, legendary Bob Dylan songs including “Forever Young,” “Hurricane,” and “Like A Rolling Stone" in this musical set in 1934 Minnesota where a group of travelers’ lives intersect in a guesthouse filled with music, life and hope.

    Director:Conor McPherson
    Writer:Conor McPherson

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  13. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 5 - From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2025
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E5

    Experience this annual beloved concert from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Johann Strauss. Conducted by Riccardo Muti for the seventh time, PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville returns to host.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 6 - Movies for Grownups® Awards 2025 with AARP The Magazine
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E6

    Iconic and beloved screen and stage performer Alan Cumming returns as host for this awards show in which Glenn Close receives the Career Achievement Award.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 7 - Andrea Bocelli 30th – The Celebration
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E7

    Experience the world-renowned Italian tenor’s 30th anniversary concert from Tuscany featuring global superstars Ed Sheeran, David Foster, Katharine McPhee, Sofia Carson, Brian May, Jon Batiste and more. Directed by Grammy nominee and Emmy winner Sam Wrench.

    Director:Sam Wrench
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 8 - Great Performances at the Met: Grounded
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E8

    Follow a fighter pilot who operates a drone in a high-tech world battling both war and motherhood. With pressures from every angle, she balances being the perfect soldier, wife and mother. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Michael Mayer's staging.

    Director:Gary Halvorson
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 11 - Great Performances at the Met: Les Contes d’Hoffmann
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E11

    Benjamin Bernheim performs the title role of the tormented poet for Offenbach’s final work. Hoffmann’s trio of lovers are sung by Erin Morley as the mechanical doll Olympia, Pretty Yende as the plagued diva Antonia, and Clémentine Margaine as the Venetian seductress Giulietta.

    Director:Bartlett Sher
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 15 - Next to Normal
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E15

    Experience this Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical directed by Michael Longhurst from London's Donmar Warehouse. Grammy nominee Caissie Levy stars in the story of a suburban family struggling with the effects of mental illness.

    Director:Michael Longhurst
    Writer:Brian Yorkey

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  19. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 17 - Great Performances at the Met: Tosca
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E17

    Lise Davidsen stars in the title role alongside Freddie De Tommaso in his company debut as her lover Cavaradossi with Quinn Kelsey as the chief of police Scarpia. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 20 - Great Performances at the Met: Aida
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E20

    Angel Blue makes her highly anticipated Met role debut as Aida, the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium of Michael Mayer’s staging, featuring intricate projections of ancient Egypt and animations.

    Director:Michael Mayer
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 21 - Great Performances at the Met: Fidelio
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E21

    In her second role of this season of Great Performances at the Met, Lise Davidsen stars as Leonore, who risks everything to save her husband from the clutches of tyranny. David Butt Philip is the political prisoner Florestan, sharing the stage with Tomasz Konieczny as the villainous Don Pizarro, René Pape as the jailer Rocco, and Ying Fang as Marzelline.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 22 - Great Performances at the Met: Le Nozze di Figaro
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E22

    Conductor Joana Mallwitz makes her Met debut leading the cast in Mozart’s comic masterpiece. Michael Sumuel is the clever valet Figaro opposite Olga Kulchynska as his betrothed, the wily maid Susanna. Joshua Hopkins plays the skirt-chasing Count, Federica Lombardi portrays his anguished wife, and Marianne Crebassa takes on the role of the adolescent page Cherubino.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 23 - Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2025
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E23

    The beloved annual concert performed by Vienna Philharmonic takes place in Schönbrunn Palace Park and is conducted for the first time by Maestro Tugan Sokhiev.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Great Performances Season 52 Episode 24 - Great Performances at the Met: Salome
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S52:E24

    The first new production of the opera at the Met in 20 years, director Claus Guth reimagines the biblical tale through Oscar Wilde’s haunting play, setting it in an intricate Victorian world filled with symbolism and contrasts of darkness and light. Headlining the new staging is Elza van den Heever as the abused and unhinged antiheroine Salome, who demands the head of Jochanaan.

    Director:Claus Guth
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 52 Ratings Summary

"Patsy Cline: Walkin' After Midnight" is the best rated episode of "Great Performances" season 52. It scored 8.3/10 based on 13 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 11/22/2024. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Now Hear This: Rachmaninoff Reborn".