Venice opera house La Fenice fires music director Beatrice Venezi after 'offensive' comments
Famous Venice opera house Teatro La Fenice has fired the incoming music director Beatrice Venezi after months of protests and following “repeated and serious public statements that were offensive and harmful” to the theater.
Published on 28/04/2026 - 11:25 GMT+2
After months of opposition, The Teatro La Fenice – Venice's renowned opera house – has dropped the incoming Musical Director Beatrice Venezi over statements “deemed offensive and detrimental to the artistic and professional standing of the Teatro La Fenice Foundation”.
Venezi was appointed permanent Musical Director and the first female conductor at La Fenice in September 2025. The following month, the theatre trade unions demanded Venezi’s resignation, arguing that the 36-year-old lacked the necessary experience to lead the orchestra.
Concerns were also raised over her affiliations to Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government.
Venezi, whose father is a former member of the neofascist political party Forza Nuova, was appointed as an adviser to the culture minister after Meloni came to power in 2022.
Then came Venezi’s recent statements accusing the orchestra of nepotism.
On 23 April, Venezi gave an interview to Argentinian newspaper La Nación in which she said that “this is an orchestra in which positions are passed down practically from father to son”.
She added that orchestra members “never leave the island” of Venice and that they didn’t know how to appeal to younger audiences.
“They’re afraid of change, of renewal.”
Following these statements, Teatro La Fenice terminated Venezi’s contract.
General manager Nicola Colabianchi cited Venezi’s “repeated and serious public statements that were offensive and harmful” to the theater and its orchestra.
La Fenice's unions welcomed the decision, calling it “a necessary act of respect” and underlining that the theater's professionalism had been “subject to serious, unfounded public statements damaging to the dignity of labor.”
Meloni's office issued a statement denying a newspaper report that she had authorised Venezi's sacking. Daily Corriere della Sera had said Meloni had approved Venezi's axing due to the "accumulation of controversy".
However, Italy’s Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, expressed support for the decision, stating that he hoped it would “clear the field misunderstandings, tensions and instrumentalization of every kind and degree; in the interests of the theatre and the city of Venice”.
