World-Class Opera Comes to the Sullivan Catskills Through the Met’s Award-Winning Live in HD Series
SUNY Sullivan will screen a live satellite transmission of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” on Saturday, May 2, beginning at 1 p.m. in the Seelig Theatre at 112 College Road, Loch Sheldrake. The performance is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, which brings world-class opera directly from the Metropolitan Opera stage to audiences across the globe. Tickets are available online or at the door beginning at noon. Attendees are also welcome to arrive early for a lively pre-screening talk beginning at 12:15 p.m.
Following her acclaimed 2024 company debut in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” Soprano Asmik Grigorian returns to the Met as Tatiana, the lovestruck young heroine at the heart of this ardent operatic adaptation of Pushkin. Baritone Iurii Samoilov makes his company role debut as the urbane Onegin, who realizes his affection for Tatiana all too late. Conductor Timur Zangiev leads the performance, with the production directed by Tony Award-winner Deborah Warner, whose evocative staging features set design by Tom Pye, costumes by Chloe Obolensky, lighting by Jean Kalman, and choreography by Kim Brandstrup.
Based on Alexander Pushkin’s iconic verse novel, “Eugene Onegin” is among the most beloved works in the operatic repertory. Tchaikovsky’s score, tender, grand, and melancholy in equal measure, traces the story of young Tatiana from a sentimental adolescent into a complete woman, in one of the operatic stage’s most convincing character developments. The opera’s vocal solos are among the most celebrated in the repertory, including Tatiana’s Letter Scene, a rhapsodic outpouring of gorgeous melody in which she composes a declaration of love to Onegin, and the tenor’s moving farewell to his young life in Act II. The performance will be presented in Russian with English subtitles.
As the loop portion of College Road may be closed due to SpringFest, attendees should park in Lot 1 and enter the campus via Building A.
The transmission is expected to run approximately four hours. Tickets are available now at sunysullivan.edu/met-opera or by calling 845-434-5750, ext. 3188.
On May 30, the Metropolitan Opera’s 2025-26 Live in HD season concludes with a live transmission of Gabriela Lena Frank’s first opera, “El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego,” a magical-realist portrait of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz. The story depicts Frida, sung by mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, leaving the underworld on the Day of the Dead and reuniting with Diego, portrayed by baritone Carlos Álvarez. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met premiere staging of Frank’s opera, with a vibrant new production directed and choreographed by Deborah Colker.
SUNY Sullivan’s partnership with the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series brings some of the world’s greatest performing artists to audiences in the Sullivan Catskills who might not otherwise have access to live opera at this level. The program reflects the college’s commitment to arts and cultural enrichment as a core part of community life — and its belief that world-class artistic experiences belong in every community, not only in major metropolitan centers.
About the Met: Live in HD: The Met: Live in HD is the Metropolitan Opera’s groundbreaking series of live high-definition transmissions to movie theaters and performing arts venues around the world. Since its launch in 2006, the series has brought opera to more than 2,500 venues in 70 countries, reaching millions of audience members who might not otherwise have access to live performances at the Met.
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.
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