Teatro La Fenice, the prestigious Venice opera house, has fired its incoming music director after she insinuated its hiring practices were nepotistic, with jobs \u201cpractically passed down from father to son\u201d.<\/p>\n
After months of controversy over the appointment of Beatrice Venezi<\/a>, La Fenice Foundation said on Sunday it had decided to \u201ccancel all future collaborations\u201d with the 36-year-old conductor and pianist.<\/p>\n Venezi, who was to become the theatre\u2019s first female music director, said in a newspaper interview that La Fenice\u2019s bosses were afraid because she was young, female and wanted to bring about change.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have any godfathers, that\u2019s the difference,\u201d she told the Argentinian newspaper, La Nacion<\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t come from a family of musicians, and this is an orchestra where positions are practically passed down from father to son.\u201d<\/p>\n Orchestra members \u201cnever leave the island\u201d of Venice, Venezi added, and didn\u2019t know how to attract younger audiences. \u201cThey\u2019re afraid of change, of renewal.\u201d<\/p>\n La Fenice Foundation said Venezi\u2019s \u201crepeated public statements\u201d were \u201coffensive and detrimental to the artistic and professional value\u201d of the opera house and its orchestra.<\/p>\n The musician previously accused La Fenice\u2019s management of being \u201canarchic\u201d and too influenced by unions, and said season ticket holders were all \u201cover 80\u201d.<\/p>\n Her appointment last September was strongly opposed by La Fenice\u2019s orchestra musicians and staff, who voted to strike<\/a> 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\u2019s far-right government, headed by Giorgia Meloni.<\/p>\n A protest against the appointment of Beatrice Venezi in Venice last November. Photograph: Paola Garbuio\/AP<\/p>\n Audience members at La Fenice also expressed their dissatisfaction by throwing dozens of leaflets bearing the slogan, \u201cMusic is art, not entertainment\u201d into the air at the end of several performances.<\/p>\n Venezi, whose father is a former member of the neofascist political party Forza Nuova, is currently a music adviser at Italy\u2019s culture ministry. She was due to take up her role at La Fenice in October, conducting three times a year.<\/p>\n