One segment on the show was chosen by viewers, submitting votes in the mail and over the Internet. It is, a spokesperson told PlaybillArts yesterday, a performance of "Send in the Clowns" from a 1990 production of Stephen Sondheim's
A Little Night Music at New York City Opera.
The special will also include introductions by Beverly Sills, flutist James Galway, Perlman, Fleming, violinist Joshua Bell, Marsalis, and New York City Ballet ballet master in chief Peter Martins. Among the many segments planned:
Pianist Van Cliburn performing as part of the first Live From Lincoln Center broadcast (1976);
Natalia Makarova and Ivan Nagy in American Ballet Theatre's Swan Lake (1976);
Soprano Beverly Sills in New York City Opera's The Barber of Seville (1976);
Pianist Andr_ Watts performing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (1976);
Mikhail Baryshnikov in American Ballet Theatre's Giselle (1977);
Mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne performing with the New York Philharmonic (1979);
Tenor Luciano Pavarotti singing "Nessun dorma" from Turandot with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic (1980);
Violinists Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman performing with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic (1980);
Comedian Danny Kaye conducting the New York Philharmonic (1981);
Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic at composer Aaron Copland's 85th-birthday concert (1985);
Tenor Plšcido Domingo singing Puccini with the New York City Opera Orchestra (1987);
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma performing Dvoršk's Cello Concerto with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic (1988);
An interview with composer Stephen Sondheim (1990);
The Lincoln Center Theater production of Susan Stroman's musical Contact (2002);
New York City Ballet in Vienna Waltzes from a celebration of the 100th anniversary of George Balanchine's birth (2004);
Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra performing "Ain' No" from the Higher Ground hurricane relief special (2005);
and Ren_e Fleming singing "Vissi d'Arte" from Puccini's Tosca at the Juilliard School's 100th-anniversary gala earlier this month.
Other rarities on the program include a performance of the Jailer's Recitative from Tosca by Perlman; backstage segments from episodes in 1994 and 1995; and a toast by George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein from a 1982 concert celebrating Stravinsky's centennial.
Live From Lincoln Center was created in 1976 by John Goberman, who remains executive producer. The first broadcast, on January 30, 1976, featured the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Andr_ Previn. Cliburn was the soloist. Martin Bookspan, who has served as announcer since the show's creation, will step down after tonight's program.
The show has been nominated for 51 Emmys and has won 12 awards.
