Opera House and National Theatre of Cluj

The Romanian Opera House of Cluj, established on 19 September 1919, is the oldest such institution in the country. Led by outstanding musicians such as the tenor Costantin Pavel, the Italian conductor Egisto Tango, composer Tiberiu Brediceanu, and baritone Dimitrie Popovici-Bayreuth, in the space of a few short months it managed to overcome the difficulties inherent to the debut of such an undertaking. During its nine decades of activity, the Cluj Opera House presented performances by reputed artists such as Lia Hubic, the "Transylvanian nightingale", and Ioan Piso.



The National Theatre of Cluj, founded by one of the greatest Transylvanian actors, Zaharia Barsan, is the major theatrical institution of Transylvania and one of the most prestigious in Romania. The inaugural performance of Cluj Theatre took place on 1 December 1919. Since the year 2000, under the directorship of critic Ion Vartic, its repertoire has featured interesting plays by classic and modern, Romanian and foreign playwrights, staged by major directors like Vlad Mugur, Mihai Maniutiu, Sanda Manu, Mona Chirila, Andrei Serban.