This Sunday, 3/30, the Arts Shine in THREE Special, NEW and Award-Winning Productions

GREAT PERFORMANCES at the Met "Hansel and Gretel"

***2008 GRAMMY Award - Winner for Best Opera Recording

1:00 pm Sunday

GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET begins its second season with the English-language production of “Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.” In this version, Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer (yes, two women) play siblings Hansel and Gretel, and tenor Philip Langridge, the Witch (really!), in masterful treatment of the beloved story by the Brothers Grimm. This “Hansel and Gretel” takes a decidedly culinary turn, with food – and hunger – dominating the proceedings, and with giant chefs, magical dishes and (the aforementioned) over-the-top witch. The opera was recorded in high definition, with initial live transmission to theaters around the world.

GREAT PERFORMANCES “Peter and the Wolf”

***2008 ACADEMY AWARD -Winner for “Best Animated Short Film

3:00 pm Sunday

Sergei Prokofiev's fanciful musical tale "Peter and the Wolf" is given new life in this innovative new animated interpretation. As producer Hugh Welchman explains, “…Ask anyone under 30 and they have never heard of it. We wanted to find a way of re-introducing it to children.” This modern-day production uses stop-frame model animation, puppets and digital photography. Director of photography Hugh Gordon utilized the same high-definition cameras that Tim Burton employed for 2005’s Corpse Bride. Originally composed in 1936, the piece famously uses personified instruments in the orchestra to tell the story - also penned by the composer - of young Peter (string section) and his animal friends the Duck, the Bird and even a mischievous Cat (represented by an oboe, flute and clarinet, respectively), who becomes an unsuspecting hero and frees his small Russian village from the Wolf (French horns).

MASTERPIECE - The Complete Jane Austen – “Sense and Sensibility”

9:00 pm Sunday

The final 2-part program in MASTERPIECE’s Complete Jane Austen series, begins tonight and concludes next Sunday night, 4/6. In this new production, Hattie Morahan plays levelheaded Elinor Dashwood, and Charity Wakefield is her impulsive sister Marianne. Though poor, they attract a trio of promising gentlemen -- soon-to-be wealthy Edward Ferrars, heroic Colonel Brandon and John Willoughby.