Beatrice Venezi. Photo by Lorenzo Montanelli.
In Thursday’s (10/9) Guardian (U.K.), Lorenzo Tondo writes, “Staff at Venice’s La Fenice opera house have voted to strike over the appointment of a conductor with ties to Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government. The strike will be held on Friday 17 October, the date of the opera house’s first performance of a run of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, which will close its 2024-25 season. The theatre’s musicians and staff have for months called for Beatrice Venezi’s appointment as music director to be revoked, claiming she does not have enough experience for the high-profile role and was picked only because of her government connections. Venezi, 35, whose father is a former member of the neofascist Forza Nuova party, was appointed as a music adviser at the culture ministry shortly after Meloni came to power three years ago … Venezi has conducted orchestras across Europe and beyond. However, critics of her recruitment argue she lacks the caliber expected for such a post, noting that she has never directed at La Fenice—except for a brief promotional event—nor at any major international opera house. The orchestra’s musicians last week issued an open letter … denouncing the lack of transparency in the selection process and questioning Venezi’s qualifications for a role at such an esteemed institution…. Venezi, who will start her four-year term in 2026, has so far not commented on the row.”
