Performed from Highland Park’s Ravinia Festival, Great Performances presents legendary composer Leonard Bernstein’s Kaddish symphony featuring the talent of Uniting Voices (formerly Chicago Children’s Choir), Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Led by famed conductor and Bernstein protégé Marin Alsop, the work includes music and spoken narrative segments voiced by narrator Jaye Ladymore (“Chicago Med”) and sung by soprano soloist Janai Brugger (Great Performances at the Met: Medea). Recorded July 2022, the symphony examines questions of humanity and faith, exploring the complicated nature of a higher power who governs mortality. Great Performances: Leonard Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony premieres Monday, August 21 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/gperf and the PBS App.

Talent:

• Marin Alsop – Conductor
• Janai Brugger – Soprano Soloist
• Jaye Ladymore – Narrator
• Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Chicago Symphony Chorus
• Uniting Voices (formerly Chicago Children’s Choir)
• Leonard Bernstein – Composer
• Matthew Diamond – Television Director

Noteworthy Facts:

• Originally composed in 1963, composer Leonard Bernstein made revisions to his Kaddish symphony in 1977 which included some cuts, rewrites of both the music and spoken text, and allowed for the speaker to be either a man or woman.
• In the Jewish religion, the Kaddish is the name of the prayer chanted at funerals and at synagogue services, yet there’s no mention of death in the prayer. Instead, it mentions “life” three times. In his symphony, Bernstein plays on the prayer’s dualism: Its reputation as a requiem, and its celebration of life in both the music and spoken text.
• The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has been a regular guest at the Ravinia Festival since 1905 and made it its summer residence in 1936. Each year, the orchestra headlines more than a dozen concerts over six weeks.

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A beloved summer tradition, Great Performances presents the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s summer night concert from Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace Gardens. Focusing on musical works from French Romanticism to Impressionism, the orchestra is led for the first time by Metropolitan Opera music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and features Elīna Garanča as a soloist performing three arias from “Carmen,” “Sapho” and “Samson et Dalila.” Also performed for the first time is a composition by Lili Boulanger, the first female winner of the prestigious Prix de Rome for her work in 1913. Great Performances: Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2023 premieres Friday, August 25 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/gperf and the PBS App.

Talent:

• Yannick Nézet-Séguin – Conductor
• Elīna Garanča – Mezzo-Soprano Soloist
• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Musical program:

• Suite No. 1 from “Carmen” – Georges Bizet
• “Habanera” from “Carmen” – Georges Bizet
• “D‘un matin de printemps” – Lili Boulanger
• “Le Corsaire” Overture – Hector Berlioz
• “O ma lyre immortelle” aria from “Sapho” – Charles Gounod
• “Daphnis et Chloé” Suite No. 2 – Maurice Ravel
• “Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix” aria from “Samson et Dalila” – Camille Saint-Saëns
• “Boléro” – Maurice Ravel
• “Viennese Spirit” Waltz – Johann Strauss Jr.

Noteworthy Facts:

• This is the first time Metropolitan Opera music conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin is conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s summer concert.
• The performance of “D‘un matin de printemps” is dedicated to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was signed 75 years ago and strengthened 30 years ago at the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights.
• The Vienna Philharmonic has performed the Summer Night Concert from the Schönbrunn Palace Gardens in Vienna since 2004.

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Verdi’s Shakespearean comedy features an ensemble cast in Robert Carsen’s staging, with baritone Michael Volle performing in his first Verdi role at the Met as the knight Falstaff, tormented by a trio of clever women who deliver his comeuppance. Reuniting after their acclaimed turns in the production’s 2019 run are soprano Ailyn Pérez as Alice Ford, soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano as Meg Page, and mezzo-soprano Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Mistress Quickly. Soprano Hera Hyesang Park and tenor Bogdan Volkov are the young couple Nannetta and Fenton, and Maestro Daniele Rustioni conducts. Ryan Speedo Green hosts.

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