Romanian National Opera Cluj-Napoca
Opera and ballet company in Cluj's Fellner and Helmer theatre of 1906, founded in 1919.
The Romanian National Opera in Cluj-Napoca was founded in 1919, shortly after Transylvania's union with Romania, and gave its first performance, Aida, in 1920. It was the first Romanian-language opera company in the country and drew together singers and musicians from across the region. Over more than a century it has built a repertoire spanning Italian, French, German, Russian and Romanian works, and maintains its own orchestra, chorus and ballet company alongside a studio for young singers.
The company shares a building on Piata Stefan cel Mare with the Lucian Blaga National Theatre. Designed by the Viennese partnership of Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer and completed in 1906, it is one of the firm's many theatres across central Europe, with a Neo-Baroque exterior and an auditorium decorated in Secessionist style. The horseshoe hall seats around a thousand. The opera stages a monthly programme of operas, ballets and concerts, and also runs an international vocal competition.
Highlights
- First Romanian-language opera company, founded 1919
- Neo-Baroque theatre by Fellner and Helmer, opened 1906
- Resident orchestra, chorus and ballet company
- Guided tours of the auditorium and backstage areas
