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It’s the controversy that has been shaking one of Italy’s most prestigious arts institutions for the past two months.
The new season of the Venice opera house La Fenice opened on 20 November with a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s ‘La Clemenza di Tito.’
But the real show took place just outside the doors of the theatre, where dozens of workers and members of the public gathered to call once again for the resignation of the theatre’s newly appointed music director Beatrice Venezi, who is set to lead La Fenice for the upcoming 2026-2027 season.
Since late September, the musicians and staff of La Fenice have been protesting Venezi’s nomination over her insufficient credentials and her ties to the far-right government of Prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
La Fenice’s superintendent Nicola Colabianchi said Venezi has been hired because “she is a very good conductor, and because she is a woman and already respected internationally at only 35.”
A favourite of Giorgia Meloni
The decision caused outrage among the staff, who first bemoaned her lack of professional experience.
“Venezi has never conducted in the world’s leading opera houses, nor does her name appear on the programmes of the most important international music festivals”, the opera’s orchestra said in an open letter.
“Where, then, is the so-called ‘international talent’ that should be leading La Fenice?”
Venezi is also a favourite of Giorgia Meloni. She was named music adviser to the Italian government shortly after Meloni came to power in 2022.
A year before, the conductor had also received an award from Meloni’s far-right party Brothers of Italia. As if that wasn’t enough, Venezi’s father is a former member of the neofascist party New Force (Forza Nuova).
Venezi’s links to the far-right had already made headlines in France in 2023 when protests greeted her tenure as a guest conductor for the Limoges and Nice orchestras.
Back in Itay, unions denounced her new appointment to La Fenice as a choice “imposed from above” and an example of “an authoritarian drift that should be avoided.”
For artists standing in solidarity with the theatre, this case reflects Meloni’s tightening grip on Italian cultural institutions.
Stalled mediation
The dispute escalated when La Fenice musicians and staff members went on strike in October, causing one of the last shows of the 2024/2025 season to be cancelled.
Unions also called for the resignation of the opera’s superintendent, criticising his leadership as “incompatible with the values, history and prestige of the theatre.”
But Colanbianchi appears determined to come out of the crisis on top. As workers were protesting ahead of the season’s opening concert last week, he offered to organise a meeting between the theatre’s professors and Venezi.
“The meeting should have been held well before all of this. After two months, this is yet another mockery by the superintendent, who no longer knows what to do,” cellist and union leader Marco Trentin told La Nuova di Venezia.
An online petition demanding Venezi’s revocation has received over 16,000 signatures. In a letter released in October, 140 season ticket-holders said they would not renew their subscription if her appointment was confirmed.
Beatrice Venezi has remained mostly out of the spotlight as the theatre’s management fights on her behalf. She is due to take up her duties as music director of La Fenice in October 2026.