The Teatro La Fenice was protested following a concert on Oct. 31, as audience members threw leaflets throughout the theater. The protest was due to the lack of transparency in the selection of the company’s new Music Director. This is the second time this has happened at the theater since the selection of Beatrice Venezi as the Music Director. The {…}
The Teatro La Fenice has canceled its opening night performance of Berg’s “Wozzeck” on Oct. 17 due to a strike caused by the election of Beatrice Venezi as the company’s new music director. The workers‘ unions of Teatro La Fenice announced the strike and stated it was in protest of Venezi’s new position. According to La Repubblica, the strike was {…}
Following protests from orchestra members of the Teatro La Fenice and numerous companies in Italy showing solidarity to the company for the election of Beatrice Venezi as the next Music Director of the Venice opera house, 140 subscribers have signed a letter in solidarity for the orchestra against Venezi’s appointment. In the letter, the subscribers said, “We write as season {…}
The Teatro La Fenice has come under fire for hiring Beatrice Venezi as the new Music Director. Workers announced on Friday that they will go on a permanent strike against this week’s appointment due Venezi’s close relationship to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government. According to Ansa.it, the workers declared “a permanent state of strike” and said they “reserve the right {…}
UPDATE: The Teatro San Carlo, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Arena di Verona, Teatro Carlo Felice, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino have also announced their support for the workers of the Teatro La Fenice. The Teatro alla Scala and Teatro Regio di Torino are supporting the workers at the {…}
The Fondazione Teatro La Fenice has announced that Maestra Beatrice Venezi will be the new Music Director. According to the press release, the decision was made after “fruitful discussions” and was unanimously approved by the Foundation’s President, Mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro, and all the board members. Venezi will officially take up her new post in October 2026, with a {…}
(Photo: Michele Crosera) On September 4, 2025 Teatro La Fenice showed the second to last performance of Puccini’s “Tosca.” The company is presenting a new production of Puccini’s masterpiece and reviving the work for the first time since 2019. For this new production, the company has lined up an outstanding cast with a great conductor and a production that sets {…}
(Credit: Michele Corsera) The Teatro La Fenice is set to stream its production of Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena.” The company announced it would stream the work on YouTube on August 1 in a production by Pier Luigi Pizzi. Renato Balsadonna conducts the work, which stars Alex Esposito, Lidia Fridman in her role debut, Carmela Remigio, William Corrò, Enea Scala, and Manuela {…}
The Teatro La Fenice has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera The season opens with Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” with Ivor Bolton conducting a new production by Paul Curran. The cast includes Daniel Behle, Cecilia Molinari, Nicolò Balducci, and Francesca Aspromonte. Performance Dates: Nov. 20-30, 2025 Luca Micheletti directs Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra” with Renato Palumbo conducting. Luca Salsi, Francesco Meli, {…}
(Photo: Michele Crosera) Although the Sicilian composer Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725) is famed for his prolific output of operas–he claimed to have written well over 100–which were significant in laying the foundations for the development of 18th century opera seria, he rarely strayed into the field of comic opera. The single major exception was his 1718 work, “Il trionfo dell’onore,” written {…}
(Photo: Felix Grünschloß) OperaWire was fortunate to be present at The International Händel Festspiele in Karlsruhe earlier this month in which we caught a splendid production of the composer’s 1731 opera, “Rinaldo.” Fortunately, we managed a very quick interview with one of its star performers, mezzosoprano Valeria Girardello. OperaWire: What was the first opera you saw? Valeria Girardello: “L’Italiana in {…}
