Seelig Theatre to Host Cinematic Opera Experience Featuring Soprano Lise Davidsen and Tenor Michael Spyres
SUNY Sullivan is pleased to invite the community to a live HD screening of the Metropolitan Opera’s highly anticipated new production of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, to be held at the Seelig Theatre on the SUNY Sullivan campus on Saturday, March 21, 2026. The broadcast begins at 12 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and Met Opera members, $10 for students, and $5 for children under 5. Tickets and sponsorship information are available at sunysullivan.edu/met-opera, and will also be sold at the Seelig Theatre Box Office on the day of the show (cash, checks, and credit cards accepted).
The screening is part of The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series now in its 19th season, which transmits live performances to cinemas and venues around the world. Tristan und Isolde represents one of the most eagerly awaited events of the season — a brand-new Met production of Wagner’s supreme exploration of love, longing, and transcendence.
A Once-in-a-Generation Cast
Leading the cast is Norwegian dramatic soprano Lise Davidsen, making her long-anticipated role debut as Isolde at the Met following a celebrated run at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu. Opposite her, heroic American tenor Michael Spyres stars as the love-struck Tristan in his own Met role debut. The production is conducted by the Met’s Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, leading Tristan und Isolde at the Met for the very first time. The cast also features mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne, bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny as Kurwenal, and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as King Marke.
The new staging is by director Yuval Sharon — hailed by The New York Times as “the most visionary opera director of his generation” and the first American to direct an opera at the famed Wagner festival in Bayreuth — in his eagerly awaited Metropolitan Opera debut.
Tristan und Isolde runs approximately five hours and ten minutes with two intermissions.
About the Opera
Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, premiered in 1865, stands as one of the most transformative works in the history of Western music. Its revolutionary harmonic language — built on unresolved longing and yearning — reshaped the course of classical music and influenced generations of composers, filmmakers, and artists. The opera follows the doomed love affair between the knight Tristan and the Irish princess Isolde, building from a fateful sea voyage to a shattering final aria, Isolde’s transcendent Liebestod, or “love death.”
The Met: Live in HD series continues at SUNY Sullivan on Saturday, May 2, at 1 p.m., with “Eugene Onegin” (Tchaikovsky); and Saturday, May 30, at 1 p.m., with “El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego” (Gabriela Lena Frank).
Ticket and Event Information
- What: The Met: Live in HD — Tristan und Isolde (Wagner)
- When: Saturday, March 21, 2026 | 12 p.m.
- Where: Seelig Theatre, SUNY Sullivan, 112 College Road, Loch Sheldrake, NY 12759
- Tickets: $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and Met Opera members, $10 for students, and $5 for children under 5. Tickets and sponsorship information are available at sunysullivan.edu/met-opera, and will also be sold at the Seelig Theatre Box Office on the day of the show (cash, checks, and credit cards accepted).
- Runtime: Approximately five hours and ten minutes with two intermissions
- Information: https://sunysullivan.edu/event/the-met-live-in-hd-tristan-und-isolde/; email Foundation@sunysullivan.edu, or call 845-434-5750 Ext 3188.
This event is presented as part of The Met: Live in HD, produced by the Metropolitan Opera.
About SUNY Sullivan: SUNY Sullivan is the leader of innovative higher education and a catalyst for workforce development throughout the Sullivan Catskills and beyond. Our diverse community cultivates personal growth and professional advancement, preparing students for success in a sustainable and interconnected world. A forward-looking, top-tier community college in New York, SUNY Sullivan offers dozens of degree programs, certificates, and microcredentials for learners at all levels of their educational goals. We value critical inquiry and creativity while supporting our students in a culture of inclusion and respect.
