The aim of the OPERA experiment is to provide an unambiguous evidence for the νμ ↔ ντ oscillation by looking at the appearance of ντ in a pure νμ beam. This oscillation will be sought in the region of the oscillation parameters indicated by the atmospheric neutrino results. The experiment is part of the CNGS (Cern Neutrino beam to Gran Sasso) project. The νμ beam produced at CERN will be sent towards the Gran Sasso underground laboratory, where the OPERA detector is under construction. The detector, the physics potential and performance for neutrino oscillation studies including the subleading νμ ↔ νe search are presented.