“Now Hear This” Season 7 Features Celebrated Composers and Musical Epicenters
Scott Yoo, violinist and conductor of the Mexico City Philharmonic, returns this month to host the seventh season of the critically-acclaimed miniseries “Now Hear This” from Great Performances. Tune in on Fridays, April 10 through May 1, at 9pm on CET Arts. Watch a preview of Season 7: https://watch.cetconnect.org/video/now-hear-this-season-7-preview-zeeirx/.
Across four episodes, the new season follows Yoo on an exploration of the lives and works of Johannes Brahms and Scott Joplin, two celebrated composers whose careers did not go as planned; alongside the music scene of two major musical epicenters, Istanbul and Iceland. Learn more about each episode below:
Episode 1 “Brahms: Free But Alone”
Premieres Friday, April 10, at 9pm on CET Arts
Journey across Germany with Yoo, pianist Elisabeth Brauss and cellists Johannes Moser and Max Hornung to find a window into Johannes Brahms’ inner life. 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.
Through Brahm’s personal photo collection and a visit to his summer hideaway, preserved as he left it years ago, Yoo discovers how Brahms reached a turning point in his life to become one of the greatest composers ever known. Watch a preview: https://watch.cetconnect.org/video/the-story-of-clara-schumann-and-johannes-brahms-i0budp/.
Episode 2 “Everyone Loves Joplin”
Premieres Friday, April 17, at 9pm on CET Arts
Go back in time with Yoo and Rick Benjamin’s Paragon Ragtime Orchestra to experience the music, movies and style of the era of Scott Joplin. Joplin was the king of ragtime, a new kind of music for the turn of the 20th century.
Pianist John Novacek paints a picture of the birth of ragtime and the Joplin revival that finally brought him international fame. Meanwhile, opera director Weyni Mengesha restages Joplin’s magnum opus, “Treemonisha,” for the 21st century. Watch a preview: https://watch.cetconnect.org/video/the-first-recording-of-scott-joplins-the-entertainer-xygzqd/.
Episode 3 “The Call of Istanbul”
Premieres Friday, April 24, at 9pm on CET Arts
Join Yoo and his wife, flutist Alice Dade, on an exploration of Istanbul with star Turkish pianist Fazil Say, conductor Çem Mansur, and a host of Anatolian folk and Turkish jazz musicians.
Sitting at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, the city is a melting pot of diverse peoples, languages and ideas. They discover the art, food, traditions, and fusion of cultures that shape the music of today’s Istanbul, revealing a musical heritage that has influenced Western music. Watch a preview: https://watch.cetconnect.org/video/turkish-court-music-and-the-kanun-pszqlu/.
Episode 4 “The Iceland Sound”
Premieres Friday, May 1, at 9pm on CET Arts
Travel with Yoo across this sunlit, rainy, volcanic land of extremes. From a clarinet choir, a troll stone, a volcano and the loudest symphony ever written, learn how Iceland’s unique landscape and culture combine to create this musical hotbed.
Fewer people live in Iceland than in Wichita, Kansas, yet it produces some of the best musicians in the world. Yoo meets composers Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Daniel Bjarnason, popular musician JFDR, instrument makers, music historians and one of Iceland’s most famous chefs.
Watch more episodes from Great Performances “Now Hear This” online or on the PBS app: https://watch.cetconnect.org/show/great-performances/collections/now-hear-this/.
