Venera Gimadieva graduated from the Kazan Music College and from 2004 to 2009 was a student at the St. Petersburg State Conservatoire.

In 2008 she was invited to join the ‘St. Petersburg Opera’, where her roles included Lucia in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Lucia in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Serafina in Donizetti’s Il campanello di note and Genevieve in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. She was a prize-winner at the Rimsky-Korsakov International Competition in St. Petersburg in 2008 and was awarded a diploma at the Competizione dell’Opera in Dresden in 2009. She is a guest soloist with the Kazan State Opera.

In October 2009 she joined the Young Artists Program of the Bolshoi Theatre, where she pursued her studies with Prof. Dmitry Vdovin. She made her debut at the Bolshoi as Sirin in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and Maiden Fevronia. In February 2010 she performed the role of Serpina in Pergolesi’s La serva padrona on tour to Istanbul with the ‘Musica Viva’ Chamber Orchestra conducted by Alexander Rudin and also took part in concerts with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yuri Simonov. In June 2010 she was awarded First Prize at the International Shalyapin Competition.

This season she made her debut singing the title role in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow-Maiden to great critical acclaim and also appeared as soprano soloist in Brahms’ German Requiem with the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Pletnev at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. Later, she sang the Queen of Shemakha in the new production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel directed by the famous Russian theatre director Kirill Serebriannikov and conducted by the Bolshoi’s music director Vassily Sinaisky. The end of the season marks the completion of her time on the Bolshoi Young Artists’ Programme.

Plans next season include a new co-production of La Traviata at the Opéra de Limoges and the Opéra de Reims followed by her debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in the role of Arminda in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera. She will also sing Marfa in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride and Ksenia in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. Returning to the Bolshoi, she will perform the role of Amina in a new production of Bellini’s La Sonnambula and, looking further ahead, she will sing the title role in a new production of La Traviata, to be directed by Francesca Zambello.

Venera Gimadieva is represented by Intermusica. July 2011 / 393 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.

Violetta in La Traviata / Opéra de Limoges
“Venera Gimadieva, a soprano from Kazan who is already singing big roles at the Bolshoi, was a revelation: she dazzled the audience with her agility, her high-flying technique, her fresh and lustrous tone and her breath control. She already has everything required for a first rate career.”
ODB Opera, April 2012

“Aix-en-Provence may have adored Natalie Dessay, but Limoges now venerates Venera Gimadieva. She was more than equal to the challenges of this role, which demands absolute vocal and theatrical mastery. The whole range of emotions, from love to hate and from joy to death, filtered through her tone. “Ah forsé lui”, for example, demands precision and great breath control; and “Sempre libera” requires perfect vocal technique. But nothing gave her cause to fear. She let herself be carried by the arpeggios and trills, and reached the high C effortlessly. Neither Callas nor Sutherland could have done a better job. There are many who bewail in specialist music publications that there are no more true Violettas, but Venera Gimadieva proves them all wrong.”
Le Populaire du Centre, April 2012

Violetta / Concert performance La Traviata / Göttingen Symphony Orchestra
“Venera Gimadieva used a varied palette of dynamics for the role of Violetta, ranging from powerful, yet never shrill high notes through to a moving, wonderfully tender pianissimo. She gave the part clear, distinctive musical contours, and shaped the role with great expressiveness … vocal brilliance.”

“Venera Gimadieva hatte für die Rolle der Violetta eine große dynamische Bandbreite parat, die von kraftvollen, aber nirgends rohen Spitzentönen bis zu einem bewegenden, wunderbar zarten Pianissimo reicht. Sie gab der Violetta klare, unverwechselbare musikalische Konturen, gestaltete ihre Partie mit großer Ausdruckskraft und vokalem Schmelz.“
Göttinger Tageblott, October 2011

“Such a Queen of Shemakha hasn’t appeared at the Bolshoi for many years – none of the sopranos in the previous production of The Golden Cockerel could be compared with Venera Gimadieva. Her voice feels comfortable throughout the whole range, singing out all coloratura with amazing precision and not ignoring even the slightest nuance of the role. And what a great top E at the end of the second act!”
Kultura, October 2011