The Romanian Opera was officially opened on 18 September 1919, simultaneously with the National Theatre and the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy.

The first opera performance took place on 25 May 1920 with the Romanian version Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, with Alfred Novak as conductor, and Constantin Pavel as stage director.

In just its first 2 years (1919–1921), it staged 99 performances, including Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, Charles Gounod's Faust, Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Nicolae Bretan's Luceafărul, Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser and 15 symphonic concerts of the Opera's own orchestra.

The Cluj-Napoca Romanian Opera established itself as an important European opera company, due to prestigious artistic tours in Italy (more than 22 tours starting from 1971), the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, England, Switzerland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine, then-Czechoslovakia, etc..

The hall has a capacity of 928 places, being conceived in the Neo-baroque style, with some inflexions inspired by Art Nouveau in the decoration of the foyer.