PBS's Great Performances series will present Vivere: Andrea Bocelli Live in Tuscany, the latest television special from the Italian pop-opera tenor, beginning this weekend.

The program of pop songs and arias was recorded in a specially constructed open-air theater just outside the Tuscan village of Lajatico, where Bocelli grew up and near where his family still has a working farm.

Joining the tenor for this special performance were classical piano superstar Lang Lang, jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, light jazz saxophonist Kenny G, songwriter/producer David Foster, and pop divas Sarah Brightman, Heather Headley, Laura Pausini and Eliza.

Bocelli's latest CD, a greatest-hits compilation also titled Vivere, currently holds both the no. 2 and no. 4 slots (in its English- and Spanish-language releases, respectively) on Billboard magazine's classical crossover chart. He has four additional titles in that chart's top eleven.

Vivere: Andrea Bocelli Live in Tuscany airs on New York's WNET-TV on Friday, Nov. 30 at 10:00 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 2 at 4:30 p.m. Check local listings for the broadcast times in your area.

By Matthew Westphal