Venera was born in Kazan in Tatarstan to the family of a teacher and a military officer. Having graduated from Kazan Music College in 2003, Venera started her training in the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the opera class of professor S. Gorenkova. In 2008-2009 she was the soloists of under the direction of Yuri Alexandrov. She performed her first major roles as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Gilda in Rigoletto, Lucrecia in The Rape of Lucretia. In 2009 Venera was invited to be part of the at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow.
Career
Venera Gimadieva joined the Bolshoi Theatre as a soloist in 2011. Her roles at the Bolshoi have included Gilda Rigoletto, Marfa The Tsar’s Bride, Ksenia Boris Godunov, Amina in a new production of La sonnambula, Violetta in a new production of La traviata by Francesca Zambello, the title role of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden, the Queen of Shemakha in a new production of The Golden Cockerel by Kirill Serebrennikov and conducted by Vassily Sinaisky, Sirin in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and Maiden Fevronia, and Serpina in Pergolesi's La serva padrona. Concert performances in Moscow include Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Pletnev at the . She has performed the role of Violetta in Verdi's La traviata at opera houses in France, Germany and Italy, including for her debut at La Fenice, Venice. She sang Violetta for her debut at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in July 2014, in Tom Cairns's production conducted by sir Mark Elder. This critically acclaimed appearance followed her successful UK debut at the 2013 BBC Proms, when she sang with the John Wilson Orchestra in a televised performance. Roles in 2013-2014 season also included Venera’s first Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette opposite Juan Diego Flórez’s first Roméo in Lima, Peru, and the title roles of Lucia di Lammermoor and Manon. The 2015-16 season saw Gimadieva sing Violetta for both her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and her USA debut at the Hollywood Bowl with the . She also sings the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor in Limoges, Rheims and Rouen; Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; and Elvira in I puritani at the Teatro Real Madrid, where she also sang Violetta in the acclaimed David McVicar's production of La traviata. The 2016-17 season had three more debuts for Venera; La Monnaie in Brussels, Zürich Opera House, and Santa Fe Opera. In Brussels, she performed the role of Queen of Shemakha, which was released on video by BelAir Classique in 2018. In February, she played Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Zurich Opera House. Finally, during the summer festival at the Santa Fe Opera, she was once again the Queen of Shemakha in a new production of The Golden Cockerel. Other performances during the season were at the Bolshoi Theatre, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro Real, and Beijing, China. The 2017-18 season began with a recital at the Edinburgh International Festival where Venera performed a selection of Russian songs by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glière, Vlasov and Vasilenko, accompanied by Pavel Nebolsin. While in Scotland, she also worked on a video clip for Smoke, a musical composition written by Ola Gjeilo based on a poem by Henry David Thoreau. The first debut of the season was a concert performance of The Golden Cockerel at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. Next, she performed the role of Elvira at the Vienna State Opera. The 2018 saw the start of a new project for Venera as she recorded her first solo CD, Momento Immobile, with The Hallé Orchestra conducted by Gianluca Marcianò. In April, London’s Wigmore Hall was the site of a second recital with Pavel Nebolsin, where she performed a number of art songs by Russian composers. Venera has joined Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak for a Classic Gala Concert at the Palace Square in Saint Petersburg. Throughout the season she has performed Lucia di Lammermoor at Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra national de Bordeaux, Teatro Real in Madrid, and Semperoper in Dresden. In October Venera enjoyed her debut as Violetta at the Washington National Opera.
