The State Opera and Ballet Theatre “Astana Opera” was founded on the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – the Leader of the Nation N.A.Nazarbayev in 2010-2013.

Situated on the left bank of the River Ishim, the Astana Opera House is striking in its splendor. The building itself is 64,000 square metres. Of these, about 3,000 square metres is the stage area. The Astana Opera House impresses not only by its scale, but also by its architectural refinement. It is constructed on the basis of the best classical architectural traditions and entwined therein, are Kazakh national motifs.

The Main Hall of the theatre is designed for 1,250 people, and the Chamber Hall can accommodate 250 people. According to its technical capabilities, the Astana Opera is as good as many world theatres and sometimes surpasses them.

On 21 June 2013, the theatre officially opened its first theatrical season with M.Tolebayev’s great opera “Birzhan – Sara” in Abzal Mukhitdinov’s new musical version, produced by Yuri Alexandrov. In the autumn of the same year, the inauguration of the Astana Opera House took place. The theatre was presented to the world community with G.Verdi’s “Attila” staged by Pier Luigi Pizzi and conducted by Valery Gergiev.

The first theatrical season premiered P.Tchaikovsky’s “The Sleeping Beauty” and A.Khachaturian’s “Spartacus” staged by Y.Grigorovich, S.Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” staged by Ch.Jude as well as “Rodin” by the Russian choreographer B.Eifman and “Swan Lake” staged by Honoured Workers of Kazakhstan T.Nurkaliyev and G.Buribayeva. The audience also enjoyed G.Puccini’s “La Bohème” staged by People’s Artist of Russia Yuri Alexandrov and “Tosca” staged by Luca Ronconi. Teatro alla Scala’s ballet “Don Quixote” by L.Minkus impressively closed the first season of the Astana Opera.

The second season opened with the International Silk Road Festival and the premiere of G.Verdi’s “La Traviata” (directed by H.Brockhaus) and F.Zeffirelli’s grandiose production of G.Verdi’s “Aida”. The fans of Terpsichore were pleased to see premieres of the ballet “Karagoz” to music by G.Zhubanova (choreographed by V.Usmanov), P.Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” staged by Y.Grigorovich and B.Asafyev’s “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” staged by T.Nurkaliyev and G.Buribayeva.

The world tour of the Astana Opera took place in New York, Toronto, Paris, Rotterdam and Antwerp.

The tour of the Neapolitan Teatro di San Carlo closed the second season with the ballet “Giselle” by A.Adan and a spectacular gala concert.

The world-famous artists performed on the stage of the Astana Opera: Elena Obraztsova, Valery Gergiev, Jose Carreras, Anna Netrebko, Marcelo Alvarez, Marco Boemi, Svetlana Zakharova, Vadim Repin, Denis Matsuev, Vladimir Spivakov, Ildar Abdrazakov, Olga Peretyatko and many others.

The third season traditionally opened with the International Silk Road Festival, which premiered the new production of A.Zhubanov and L.Khamidi’s opera “Abai” conducted by Principal Conductor of the Astana Opera Alan Buribayev and staged by Italian director Giancarlo del Monaco. The festival hosted famous musicians from South Korea, Great Britain, Japan, Poland, Germany, Italy and Russia. The third season premiered L.Minkus’s ballet “La Bayadère”, choreographed by Artistic Director of the Astana Opera Ballet Company, People’s Artist of Russia Altynai Asylmuratova and“Notre-Dame de Paris” by famous choreographer Roland Petit to the music of Maurice Jarre staged by Luigi Bonino. G.Puccini’s opera “Madama Butterfly” (conducted by Alan Buribayev and directed by Lorenzo Amato) has also graced the repertoire of the Astana Opera House.

The fourth season premiered L.Minkus’s ballet “Don Quixote” staged by Altynai Asylmuratova, Ye.Brusilovsky’s opera “Kyz Zhibek” in conductor Abzal Mukhitdinov’s new musical version, produced by Mikhail Panjavidze (Belarus) and Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet “Manon” to music by Jules Massenet (staging by Karl Burnett and Patricia Ruanne).