Overview
- Musicians, singers and backstage workers paraded through Venice with colleagues from Milan, Verona and Turin in a show of solidarity.
- La Fenice appointed 35-year-old Beatrice Venezi as music director effective next October, triggering strikes that already canceled an opera premiere.
- Unions demand the revocation of the appointment and the resignation of general manager Nicola Colabianchi, citing the lack of customary consultation with musicians.
- Colabianchi apologized for the process yet stands by Venezi, arguing her profile can attract new audiences and outlining a first full-orchestra engagement in July at St. Mark’s Square.
- Venezi has not commented and canceled a public appearance, while protesters question her experience and warn of political interference tied to her connections to Giorgia Meloni and a proposed theater code.