The article studies the dynamics of the development of musical and theatrical relations between Russia and Europe during the reign of Anna Ioannovna of the Russian Empire. The authors identify several key areas of interstate cooperation in the field of musical and theatrical art: opera, ballet, education in the arts, and the development of Russian music publishing. Some information is given about the activities in Russia of European artists who played a role in the development of Russian-European international relations in the field of culture in the middle of the eighteenth century. The article concludes that the formation of the directions of musical and theatrical art was an integral part of the process of forming the European image of Russian absolutism in the 1730s. The fact that the Russian Empire formed an independent activity in the field of musical and theatrical art and gradually developed own national musical and theatrical repertoire was an unconditional attribute of potential as a “great country.” This became one of the main elements of the legitimation of the imperial title of Russia in the middle of the eighteenth century.