Great Performances on WPBT/Channel 2

GREAT PERFORMANCES
Peter & the Wolf (airs Wednesday, March 26 at 8 p.m.)
Sergei Prokofiev’s fanciful musical tale Peter and the Wolf is given new life in this innovative animated interpretation. “Oldies will remember the work from school music lessons,” wrote London’s Observer , “while those coming to the story for the first time will be delighted with this darkly comic modernization.” 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 and his animal friends the Duck, the Bird and even a mischievous Cat (represented by an oboe, flute and clarinet, respectively). Peter, himself represented by the string section, becomes an unsuspecting hero and frees his small Russian village from the Wolf (French horns) intent on menacing the whole town — not to mention Peter’s beloved animal friends. Conceived and directed by award-winning animator Suzie Templeton, this modern-day “Peter and the Wolf” uses stop-frame model animation, puppets and digital photography to re-tell this enduring classic, and features the Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of Mark Stephenson performing Prokofiev’s iconic score.

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GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET
Hansel and Gretel (airs Wednesday, March 26 at 9 p.m.)
Most fairy tales — while charming on the outside — resonate long past bedtime with darker underpinnings. In this family favorite, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer play the siblings lost in a shadowy world of unknown menace, pursued by the witch (portrayed by tenor Philip Langridge) who seeks to devour them. The English-language production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s masterful treatment of the beloved story by the Brothers Grimm was originally created for Welsh National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. The opera was recorded in high definition, with initial live transmission to theaters around the world.