Premieres Wednesday, December 2 at 9:30 p.m. on WLIW21

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Renowned violinist, conductor and composer André Rieu performs a musical confection that is both a concert and a real wedding party in Dresden at the grandiose Semper, one of the world’s most beautiful opera houses. The charming bride and groom, part of the famous “Vienna Debutantes,” are joined by 40 pairs of dancers from the Elmayer Dance School in Vienna, as well as sopranos Mirusia Louwerse and Carmen Monarcha, the Platinum Tenors, baritone Morschi Franz, and the Johann Strauss Orchestra and Choir under Rieu’s direction.

Mendelssohn’s famous “Wedding March” greets the newlyweds, Louwerse and Monarcha sing the paean to love, “Plaisir d’amour” (“The Pleasure of Love”), and The Platinum Tenors perform “E lucevan le stelle” (“And the stars were shining”) from Puccini’s Tosca. Among the treasures in André Rieu Live in Dresden: Wedding at the Opera are Franz and Louwerse’s performance of “All I Ask of You” from The Phantom of the Opera; and popular Strauss selections, including “The Beautiful Blue Danube,” “Radetzky March” and “Du und Du” (“You and You Waltz”).

Tune in for details on how to get exclusive tickets to see André Rieu at Nassau Coliseum next spring. For details on WLIW21’s exclusive “Day with André” VIP concert package, featuring sound check access, three-course meal and champagne, seats in the first two rows, meet & greet and after-party with Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra, and more, donate now.

Premieres Tuesday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m. on WLIW21

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Frank Sinatra may have been born in Hoboken, New Jersey, but the “Chairman of the Board” always held a special place in his heart for the city that never sleeps — New York or “The Apple,” as he called it. In 1980, the legendary singer performed a two-week engagement at Carnegie Hall, which, at the time, set a record for the venue by selling out each show in just one day. The performances followed the release of 1980’s Trilogy, Sinatra’s ambitious triple-album comeback that featured “The Theme from New York, New York.”

Recorded on June 25, 1980, this concert special captures “Ol’ Blue Eyes” at his best with timeless classics including “I’ve Got the World on a String,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Summer Me, Winter Me,” and “The Gal That Got Away”/“It Never Entered My Mind,” a medley that would appear on She Shot Me Down in 1981. The nostalgic performance is sure to remind you why Sinatra’s celebrated baritone has been hailed as “The Voice.”

Watch Frank Sinatra perform “The Lady is a Tramp” from that concert.

Donate now and get a DVD of Sinatra – New York – Live at Carnegie Hall 1980.

Premieres Wednesday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m. on WLIW21

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Celtic Woman vocalists Lisa Kelly, Chloë Agnew, Lynn Hilary and Alex Sharpe, with violinist Máiréad Nesbitt, return with a new concert filmed July 2009 at Ireland’s historic Powerscourt House and Gardens in Enniskerry, County Wicklow. Fans gathered at the 13th century castle to witness the beloved group perform a diverse repertoire: from spirited Celtic fiddle and bodhrán pieces to lush arrangements of Irish classics, contemporary covers and original compositions. Popular songs include Jimmy Webb’s “The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress,” Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Pie Jesu,” Sting’s “Fields of Gold,” Billy Joel’s “Good Night My Angel,” Bing Crosby’s “Galway Bay,” Mariah Carey’s “When You Believe,” as well as “My Lagan Love,” “Danny Boy,” “The Call,” “Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears.” A rousing rendition of the group’s latest hit single, “O, America!” features a fireworks display in the Irish sky. For this special performance, Celtic Woman augmented its six-piece band with the 12-member Aontas Choir, 27-piece film orchestra, the 20-member Discovery Gospel Choir, 10-member Extreme Rhythm Drummers, and an 11-piece bagpipe ensemble, in order to bring musical director and composer David Downes’ musical vision to life.

During WLIW21’s premiere, Máiréad and Lisa will be live in the studio with details on Celtic Woman’s new tour – coming to Radio City Music Hall in February – how to get tickets and attend an exclusive meet & greet!

Premieres Sunday, November 29 at 7:30 p.m. on WLIW21

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, starring the world-famous Rockettes, has become America’s number-one holiday show over its storied 77-year history. This multifaceted show includes dynamic Rockette performances that showcase the dancers’ signature precision dance style. Traditional fan favorites such as the “Living Nativity” scene and “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,” which have been in the show since its inception in 1933, remain a vital part of the show’s core.

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Donate now for tickets to see the Rockettes live, plus attend an exclusive meet & greet and NYC bus tour!

Thanksgiving allows us to look at the glass half full and reflect on the positive things in our lives, no matter how big or small, just like Moment of Luxury, which invites us to discover the beauty around us and find excellence in the everyday. Host and award-winning interior designer Bill Stubbs specializes in “affordable luxury” and shares his tips, along with secrets from top designers, in every episode – Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. on WLIW21 and nationwide on public television (check local listings). You can also watch full episodes on WLIW21’s new video portal.

Here are a few of Bill Stubbs’s Thanksgiving decorating tips to spice up your dinner table arrangements this holiday:

As we’re all out preparing for Thanksgiving, I just wanted to pass along some last minute luxurious table setting ideas. And remember our motto at Moment of Luxury, “Luxury does not have to be expensive.” These ideas will create personal, memorable Thanksgiving traditions for years to come, and in some cases cost no money and do not require a trip to the store.

Table 1 – “A table full of memories”
Start with a shoe box in the middle of the table; take a remnant of fabric from around the house, i.e. a bedspread, pillow case, Hawaiian shirt, whatever you have that will get your color scheme going. Cover the shoe box and gather up the extra fabric in an opulent way. Set a potted plant or fern, or some kind of live thing in a serving bowl, on top of the shoe box. Search around your house and find photographs within a certain theme. It could be pictures from family Thanksgivings; it might even be pictures of the family pets. This table could have a cat theme, a dog theme, or a holiday theme. Frame the pictures using frames from around the house and nestle them into the crevices of the fabric. Set your table as usual, but the end result will have a luxurious and personal touch.

Table 2 – “The cornucopia table”
Thanksgiving is a time where we pay homage to the abundance in our lives. How about creating a table filled with local produce. Once again, start with the shoe box, put a remnant of fabric over the shoe box, and put a nice serving bowl filled with fruit, such as apples, pears, peaches or whatever is locally available on it. Decorate the rest of the table with colorful fruit and vegetables, such as squash and bell peppers, asparagus or broccoli, until the table feels like homage to the abundance we have in our life. The nice thing about this table decoration is that when you’re done with the beautiful meal, it’s time to make soup out of the table decorations.

Table 3 – “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”
So let’s do a table that gives thanks to our health. Once again start with the shoe box, cover it with a white sheet or a piece of fabric bunched up around the base of the shoe box. Fill a nice bowl with red apples, and then gather them in the crevices of the fabric. Take six apples and core the center out, turning them into beautiful, fresh candlesticks by placing white candles in the center of each. With white dishes and plain clear glasses, this is a table with a stunning effect.

My Thanksgiving wish is that each of you will find your moment of luxury today.

Bill Stubbs
Host, Moment of Luxury

Premieres Saturday, November 28 at 6 p.m. on WLIW21

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David Foster joins superstar tenor Andrea Bocelli for a new Christmas concert of seasonal favorites. Showcasing Bocelli’s soaring vocals are lush new arrangements given the distinctive Foster touch. Recorded at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, the program features special guests Natalie Cole, Mary J. Blige, Reba McEntire, Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins, the Muppets and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Donate now to receive 2 tickets to see Andrea Bocelli at Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ.

Ed Sullivan’s Rock and Roll Classics – The Sixties
Premieres Saturday, November 28 at 8 p.m.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live
Premieres Saturday, November 28 at 10 p.m.

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From the Beatles to Bruce Springsteen, the Four Seasons to John Fogerty, the Mamas & the Papas to Sly & the Family Stone, rock and roll has inspired generations since the 1950s. In 1986 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was founded to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock music. WLIW21 celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Rock Hall and its legendary inductees with two new performance specials that celebrate the songs and artists that transformed popular music forever.

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Ed Sullivan’s Rock and Roll Classics – The Sixties focuses exclusively on full-length performances from the famous television series between 1963-1968 that evoke the spirit of the era’s youth movement. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You” from The Beatles’ American TV debut kicks off the special, which also features the Doors’ infamous one-time-only appearance (“Light My Fire”), the Rolling Stones (“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”), Sly and the Family Stone (“Everyday People” and “Dance to the Music”), the Mamas and the Papas (“California Dreamin’” and “Monday, Monday”), the Beach Boys (“I Get Around” and “Good Vibrations”) and many others.

Donate now to get a 4 DVD Set of Ed Sullivan’s Rock and Roll Classics Vol. 1-4.

Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Live features rare, one-of-a-kind performances and exclusive, anything-goes speeches from the last 24 years of induction ceremonies. Hosted by Paul Shaffer, this new special features two all-star jams that have never been broadcast until now: The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” performed by George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and Bob Dylan, and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Green River” performed by John Fogerty, Bruce Springsteen, Robbie Robertson (The Band), Don Was, and famed session drummer Jim Keltner. Other featured artists include Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Prince, Carlos Santana, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and Bono.

Donate now to get a copy of Light My Fire – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live Vol. 1 on DVD.

No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos tells the story of two Hungarian film students who escaped communist Hungary in 1956, with little more than a camera and a shopping bag full of film. Over the next 50 years, Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond would reinvent Hollywood movies for an entire generation, shooting some of the most notable films in American cinematic history: The Deer Hunter; Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Deliverance; Paper Moon; Five Easy Pieces; What’s Up, Doc; New York, New York; Heaven’s Gate; Frances; and dozens more. The two also maintained an iron-clad friendship along the way.

No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos airs on SundayArts on Sunday, November 22nd at 3 p.m. WLIW21 spoke with the film’s director, James Chressanthis.

Q. Was it intimidating for you to film two men who practically defined a genre of American cinema?

A. Though I am an experienced cinematographer (2 Emmy® Nominations, Additional Photography on the Oscar-winning Chicago) it was a daunting task. I felt a great responsibility to get their story right while doing justice to their amazing canon of work.

Q. So why profile Laszlo and Vilmos? Why now?

A. I met Laszlo first as a student then apprenticed to Vilmos early in my career as a cinematographer. I saw them together during the filming of The Witches of Eastwick (1987) commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution and said to myself: “What an amazing story, someone should do that.” However, the stars and circumstances did not align until twenty years later when I decided to do the film in 2006. I believe their fiercely independent artistic approach, coupled with an optimistic faith in themselves, was the reason they had such an impact on American cinema. In their story, I believe young people can see a path to their own future in these uncertain times which is ripe for new innovative ways of making films.

Q. Laszlo and Vilmos worked on classics like Easy Rider, Deliverance, Paper Moon, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, to name a few … which of their films inspire you the most, and why?

A. McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Paper Moon, Close Encounters of The Third Kind, Frances, The Deer Hunter are some of my favorites. All share the trait of portraying unique individual stories without romanticizing their characters and without sentimentality. At their best, the films of both cinematographers achieve what Vilmos Zsigmond calls Poetic Realism.

Q. What challenges did you face making the film?

A. Dealing with the staggering number of masterpieces or notable films they each shot; structuring the film which has several layers/storylines: The Hungarian Revolution; the struggle of two outsider immigrants trying to achieve the American dream; the change in American cinema and how Laszlo & Vilmos were critical to the “American New Wave”; and most importantly the evolution of a deep friendship that spanned more than fifty years.

Q. How did you get access not only to Laszlo and Vilmos, but all the other big names featured in the film – Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich, Peter Fonda, Jon Voight, and others?

A. All these film artists have a great love of their craft and for their two colleagues and they were very generous with their time. All participants wished to correct the record, so that history will recognize the terrific contribution Laszlo & Vilmos made to our movies.

I wish to thank not only the those mentioned but also give a shout out to Sandra Bullock, John Williams, Richard Donner, Graeme Clifford, Allen Daviau, Owen Roizman, Haskell Wexler, Sharon Stone and the late “Grindhouse King” Ray Dennis Steckler. For me the unanticipated pleasure was having so many wonderful conversations with filmmakers I have been influenced by and admire.

This week two new National Geographic Television specials, produced exclusively for PBS, follow the adventures of explorers who set out to reach the forbidden Kingdom of Mustang — off-limits to Westerners for 50 years — and the unseen treasures these lost caves contain.

In Secrets of Shangri-La, premiering Thursday, November 19 at 10 p.m., seven-time Everest summiter Pete Athans and a team of internationally renowned climbers and explorers journey to Mustang, joining forces with archaeologists, anthropologists and art historians to rescue rare Tibetan texts from crumbling, long-hidden caves before looters reach them. When a political group from a nearby village tries to stop them, an intriguing set of events ensues involving the King of Mustang, the highest lama of the land, and even the local divinities believed to inhabit the area.

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In Lost Cave Temples of the Himalaya, premiering Saturday, November 21 at 9 p.m. on WLIW21 & WLIW World, follow Pete Athans and big-wall climber Renan Ozturk as they take on the dangerous job of climbing into the crumbling caves for the first time in modern history. Their goals are to get inside the inaccessible cave cities, unoccupied for hundreds — if not thousands — of years, to document what’s inside and to search for nine legendary cave temples called “kabum.” What they find goes far beyond their expectations, rocking the Himalayan world and rewriting the history of this remote and mystical region. The treasures include a 55-panel painted mural and piles of old Tibetan manuscript folios, some printed in silver and gold. Each vertical move into a cave opening is a step into the unknown.

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Running Wild – Hate and Immigration on Long Island

Exclusive Broadcast Premiere Wednesday, November 11 at 11:30 p.m.

On November 8, 2008, a Long Island village was torn apart by seven Patchogue-Medford High School students who allegedly stabbed a man to death because they thought he was Mexican. The victim, Marcelo Lucero, 37, was actually from Gualaceo, Ecuador. He lived in Patchogue and worked at a dry cleaner, earning enough money to help build his mother a house back home. After 15 years in the U.S., Lucero intended to return to Ecuador that December—instead he arrived in a coffin. His murder shed light on a horrifying fact: the teens who committed the deadly hate crime had been hunting Latinos for sport, as often as weekly, for the past year. Last week, one of the accused attackers pled guilty to four felony charges for his role in the fatal assault at a scheduled court conference before State Supreme Court Justice Robert W. Doyle.

Running Wild – Hate and Immigration on Long Island explores the aftermath of Lucero’s murder and its effect on the Patchogue-Medford community. WLIW21 presents the exclusive broadcast premiere of the new half-hour documentary on Wednesday, November 11 at 11:30 p.m. Through the eyes of one Patchogue-Medford High School student, Anglica Colon, and her Latino advocate father, Francisco Hernandez, the film captures an entire community turning to chaos in the wake of the murder – fingers pointed in every direction to try to explain what happened. Interviews with senior William Garcia, junior Aneesha Masih and sophomore David Maldonado, illustrate students’ struggle to understand why their classmates and friends committed this atrocity.

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This Long Island tragedy reflects a nationwide trend: FBI statistics show that hate crimes against Latinos have risen 40 percent from 2003 to 2007, and the Suffolk County Police Department is now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for its failure to crack down on these and other attacks against Latinos. Suffolk County Legislator for District 7 Jack Eddington (D, I) was one person who bore the brunt of the blame. Criticized for proposing “anti-Latino” legislation, Leg. Eddington was called a racist after the murder. His policies and those of other politicians, such as Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, were criticized for stoking hatred against immigrants.

After a contentious community meeting, Leg. Eddington asked Francisco Hernandez to meet with him. Together, they came up with a plan to try to tackle one problem seriously affecting the immigrant community: the fear of being harassed by police when playing soccer on city fields. Running Wild – Hate and Immigration on Long Island follows Leg. Eddington and Hernandez’s efforts to organize a wounded community around a common goal – a county-sponsored soccer tournament – and tracks the difficulties, failures and successes of taking on a national problem one small step at a time.

Filmmakers Tamara Bock and Angel Canales are recent graduates of Columbia University’s School of Journalism, where they produced Running Wild as their master’s project.

Please share your thoughts on the film and this controversial issue by leaving a comment below.