Cluj is one of the few cities in the world to boast two operatic institutions: The Romanian National Opera Cluj-Napoca and the Hungarian Opera of Cluj, two institutions with their own building, technical equipment and artistic ensemble.

Most of the Hungarian Opera’s performances presented in Hungarian are simultaneously translated into Romanian.

Established in 1792, the Hungarian Opera in Cluj is the oldest Hungarian-language theatre company, which is able to provide technical stage conditions appropriate to the opera genre, and has a pit for the orchestra. Thanks to the famous soprano Mrs Déryné-Széppataki Róza, who between 1823 and 1827 was employed in Cluj, the initial repertoire was gradually enriched with operas by Daniel Auber, Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, Gioacchino Rossini, Franz Weber and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It should be noted that the Cluj stage presented the operas of the period shortly after their world premiere, keeping pace with European artistic events. Shortly afterwards, in the 1859-1860 season, a new genre appears in Cluj: operetta, gaining popularity at the expense of opera. At the beginning of the new century, the theatre had in its repertoire the most important operas and operettas in the repertoire of the great opera houses.

A new era was the period between 1905 and 1932, when the company was directed by the admirable theatre director Dr Jenő Janovics, a prominent figure on the Cluj stage, who, in addition to plays (prose), added ballets, operas, operettas and other musical pieces by Giacomo Puccini, Gioacchino Rossini, Pietro Mascagni, Richard Wagner, Bedřich Smetana, Johann Strauss, Lehár Ferenc and others to the existing repertoire.

In 1910 a second stage opened on the banks of the Someș river, originally designed to host summer performances. After the First World War, the Hungarian language theatre troupe moved to this building.

The Hungarian Opera Orchestra became one of the most appreciated orchestras in Romania, starting with the period when Antonin Ciolan was the first conductor (1950-1955), with national and even international instrumentalists such as: concertmasters Ștefan Ruha, Péter Zsurka, Ferenc Balogh, László Hintós and the current concertmasters Sándor Barabás, Endre Ferenczi.

Since 2010, the Hungarian Opera in Cluj has been led by director Gyula Szép.

One of the most important missions of the Hungarian Opera in Cluj is to facilitate a close relationship between high culture and the inhabitants of Cluj-Napoca. Opera, whether classical or contemporary works, is a special cultural genre with the ability to convey fundamental human values and belongs to the general culture.