Venice opera house fires government-linked music director after months of protests

Teatro La Fenice, the prestigious Venice opera house, has fired its incoming music director after she insinuated its hiring practices were nepotistic, with jobs “practically passed down from father to son”. After months of controversy over the appointment of Beatrice Venezi, La Fenice Foundation said on Sunday it had decided to “cancel all future collaborations” with the 36-year-old conductor and pianist. Venezi, who was to become the theatre’s first female music director, said in a newspaper interview that La Fenice’s bosses were afraid because she was young, female and wanted to bring about change. “I don’t have any godfathers, that’s the difference,” she told the Argentinian newspaper, La Nacion. “I don’t come from a family of musicians, and this is an orchestra where positions are practically passed down from father to son.” Orchestra members “never leave the island” of Venice, Venezi added, and didn’t know how to attract younger audiences. “They’re afraid of change, of renewal.” La Fenice Foundation said Venezi’s “repeated public statements” were “offensive and detrimental to the artistic and professional value” of the opera house and its orchestra. The musician previously accused La Fenice’s management of being “anarchic” and too influenced by unions, and said season ticket holders were all “over 80”. Her appointment last September was strongly opposed by La Fenice’s orchestra musicians and staff, who voted to strike over the matter. They claimed she did not have enough experience for the high-profile position and was picked only because of her close connections with Italy’s far-right government, headed by Giorgia Meloni. Audience members at La Fenice also expressed their dissatisfaction by throwing dozens of leaflets bearing the slogan, “Music is art, not entertainment” into the air at the end of several performances. Venezi, whose father is a former member of the neofascist political party Forza Nuova, is currently a music adviser at Italy’s culture ministry. She was due to take up her role at La Fenice in October, conducting three times a year. She has worked with orchestras in Europe and beyond, but those opposed to her appointment argued she had never conducted at La Fenice – apart from during a brief promotional event – or at any other major opera house. Venezi is also known in Italy for appearing in TV adverts for a shampoo brand. Meloni’s office released a statement denying a report in Corriere della Sera that she supported the decision to fire Venezi, saying it was “completely unfounded” and that she “was not involved in any way, and so could not have given any green light to the decision”. Italy’s culture minister, Alessandro Giuli, said La Fenice’s decision was made independently and that he hoped it would “clear the field of misunderstandings, tensions and exploitation of any kind”.