Vnice’s storied La Fenice opear house
on Tuesday approved the controversial appointment of Beatrice
Venezi as music director starting in October.
The appointment came despite repeated and ongoing protests by
the orchestra and staff against alleged political interference
due to Venezi’s alleged ties to Premier Giorgia Meloni.
Venezi, 35, was named government musical advisor by Meloni
shortly after the right-wing leader came to power as Italy’s
first woman
prime minister three years ago and she has been praised by the
premier on several occasions, also receiving an award from her
Brothers of Italy (FdI) party.
Venezi, the daughter of a far-right militant, who also tosses
her blonde mane in a popular TV shampoo ad, is seen as being
part of the government’s declared aim of ending an alleged
left-wing cultural hegemony in Italy.
She has never led a major opera house orchestra before, and
critics say her conducting record is too slim for a post like La
Fenice’s.
But she has been defended by Culture Minister
Alessandro Giuli who said La Fenice’s first female musical
director won’t make Venetians miss her predecessors.
Britain’s Daily Telegraph has said the Lucca-born pianist and
conductor is the victim of sexism, misogyny and reverse ageism.
Venezi recently cited one of the best-loved maxims of late
Serbian soccer coach Vujadin Boškov in saying “the game ain’t
over till the ref blows his whistle” amid the protests against
her.
“I was busy with work on the other side of the world and
haven”t paid much attention to the controversy,” she said on
the sidelines of a press conference for a production of the
Bizet opera Carmen, which she was set to conduct in Pisa.
“I’ll just say that I’m so well-connected that I work
practically exclusively abroad, and that I’ll talk about this
matter in due course.
“For now, I’ll limit myself to a football joke that coach Boskov
often made: the game is only over when the referee blows the
whistle.”
In particular, responding to those who asked her about the
Fenice orchestra’s proposal for her to take a step back amid a
possible ‘mix-up’ in her appointment, Venezi replied: “What
misunderstandings? I haven’t even set foot in Venice yet.”
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