Artist of the Week: Venera Gimadieva Takes on ‘I Puritani’ At Vienna State Opera

By David Salazar

When the Vienna State Opera kicks off its production of Bellini’s “I Puritani” on Jan. 4, the work will feature a soprano that few people have heard of in recent years – Venera Gimadieva, alongside a cast that includes Adam Plachetka, Jongmin Park, and Dmitry Korchak.

Gimadieva is no outsider to be sure. The 33-year-old Russian soprano trained at the St. Petersburg State Conservatoire and eventually became a soloist at the St. Petersburg Opera where she appeared in such operas as “Rigoletto,” “Lucia di Lammermoor,” and “The Rape of Lucretia,” all in lead roles.

She has also been a major artist at the Bolshoi Theatre since 2011 where she has taken on a wide range of repertoire.

But her success has not been limited to her homeland. She has scored triumphs in Glyndebourne as Violetta in “La Traviata,” with The Guardian claiming that “she is a soprano of huge presence, compelling to watch, with a voice of thrilling security and range, and a special quality to her quieter singing that makes you hang on every note.”

She appeared at the BBC Proms and took on her first Juliette alongside none other than Juan Diego Flórez in Lima, Peru. She has since made debuts at the Royal Opera House, Zurich Opera, Semper Oper, Teatro Real, La Fenice, La Monnaie, and the Hollywood Bowl, among others.

After Vienna, she heads to Munich and Madrid to take on “Lucia di Lammermoor.”

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