“Beatrice Venezi is a young, blonde woman who likes to conduct in a beautiful dress, but our resistance is not sexist,” assures Marco Trentin, trade union representative at La Fenice and cellist of the famous Venetian opera orchestra for 35 years. “This is not about her right-wing political preference. She simply does not have the right experience as a conductor.” On the phone he explains why emotions around Venezi have been running so high in the Doge City for weeks now.
Musicians, choir members, administrative staff and technicians are opposing the nomination of Beatrice Venezi as musical director at La Fenice, one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world. They blame artistic director Nicola Colabianchi for deciding without consultation to appoint the 35-year-old Italian conductor at the head of an orchestra that does not want to be led by her at all.
A music director – a position that had not been filled in Venice for more than a decade – has an even broader role than that of chief conductor. This is also a managerial position, in addition to the artistic direction of the opera house. At this point in her career, Venezi is absolutely not ready for that, say the three hundred employees of La Fenice, and they have the support of other major Italian opera houses.
No relevant experience
Also Italian music critics, such as Alberto Mattioli from the newspaper La Stampabelieve that Venezi’s resume is inadequate. In the online newspaper Il Post Mattioli points out that the conductor has no experience at internationally renowned opera houses such as the Scala in Milan or London’s Royal Opera House, a ‘must’ for a top position at La Fenice. Venezi’s only relevant experience outside Italy is as a guest conductor at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, which has not played a prominent role outside Argentina since the 1960s.
Top positions in the Italian cultural world are also political appointments, and . Her father was a leader of the neo-fascist party Forza Nuova, Venezi himself is very close to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia, the radical right party that emerged from neo-fascism.
Top cultural positions are important for political parties, says cellist Trentin, because “they provide great visibility.” The radical right has been arguing for years that the left has a monopoly in the cultural world and thus dominates the national conversation. The right-wing government of Giorgia Meloni is keen to “break the cultural hegemony of the left”, as is often repeated. This is now happening through political appointments on TV and elsewhere in the media, but also in the film industry or classical music.
Previous governments did no differently. However, Prime Minister Meloni and her party often say that Italy must change into a ‘meritocracy’, where a candidate is given a position based on his or her own merits, not thanks to the right contacts. The music world is now revolting so strongly because Venezi’s merits are being debated. “This is not about gender or age, because we have worked with very skilled female conductors before,” says cellist Trentin. According to the musicians of La Fenice, Venezi can grow as a conductor – but it is still too early. The question arises whether Venezi’s career, which was thrown to the lions, will survive this smear campaign.
Women are underrepresented at the top of Italian classical music. Only three years ago, the Ukrainian Wagner expert Oksana Lyniv became the first woman to become the musical director of an Italian opera orchestra, at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna. “That question came from the orchestra itself,” Lyniv said at the time NRC.
Also read
Chief conductor Oksana Lyniv: ‘Women underrepresented? We need to talk less about this and do more about it’
How different is it in Venice. “The choir, orchestra and conductor must have a strong sense of each other, harmony is so important,” says cellist Marco Trentin. “But we don’t know this woman. During the pandemic we worked together once, with a limited musical line-up and without an audience, for a piece of exactly eight minutes.”
The orchestra recently proposed working with Venezi in order to weigh her as a candidate. The response from above was that Venezi’s presentation would happen anyway, regardless of the orchestra’s decision. And now Teatro La Fenice is in the spotlight with this escalating conflict: the first performance of ‘Wozzeck’ by Alban Berg, scheduled for October 17, was canceled due to a strike of the orchestra. A new campaign may follow in November. The activists demand that Venezi’s nomination be withdrawn and that artistic director Nicola Colabianchi resign.
Beatrice Venezi remains silent, so as not to fuel the polemic further. In a written response to NRC Colabianchi acknowledges that he did not wait for consultation with the orchestra regarding Venezi’s presentation, “as I had promised and also planned.” He hoped that there would still be room for consultation afterwards “since the official appointment will not take place until October 2026.” Like the Ministry of Culture, led by Meloni stalwart Alessandro Giuli, Colabianchi remains behind Venezi. According to him, “its profile can bring innovation and freshness.”
NEW: Give this item as a gift
As an NRC subscriber you can subscribe every month 10 items give as a gift to someone without an NRC subscription. The recipient can read the article directly, without a paywall.