The decision by which Venice's Teatro La Fenice terminated its collaboration with Beatrice Venezi is "null, unlawful, ineffective, and discriminatory." This is the claim of the conductor herself, who last night around 9:30 PM sent, through her lawyers, a certified email to the Foundation, communicating her decision to challenge the decision. "She can obviously proceed," commented Superintendent Nicola Colabianchi. "We have no problem; our lawyers will respond. We are completely calm," he explained, specifying that there is "no signed contract" from the Foundation.
In the letter, sent just hours after the presentation of the Venetian theater's 2026-2027 opera season, Venezi reiterated her intention to continue her professional activity until 2030, emphasizing that the contested statements were not specified and that the reasons were vague. The decision to terminate all collaboration with the conductor came on April 26, following an interview with the Argentine newspaper La Naciòn in which she stated, among other things, that La Fenice was "an orchestra where positions are practically passed down from father to son." This was the final blow after months of tension and protests from the workforce over her appointment.
The conductor, therefore, "intends to continue to make her energies and professional artistic services available to the Foundation," the statement reads, "and to carry out all professional, organizational, and production activities preliminary and essential to the employment relationship established between the parties." Finally, the lawyers reserve the right to adopt "measures deemed most appropriate and prudent to protect the rights and interests of their client." Colabianchi commented on the matter this morning on the sidelines of the press conference, specifying that the Foundation had not "signed any contract" with the conductor.
When asked if he ruled out the possibility of a financial agreement with Venezi, he replied, "Absolutely yes. We're talking to our lawyers," he said, "and they'll give us the appropriate guidance on how to proceed. But I repeat, we're completely relaxed because we've respected everything contractually." : "It's certainly an option we're considering, but it depends on the opportunity. Right now, we're waiting a few more months before making any decisions, especially since the issue has attracted so much attention, and so we're thinking about it more carefully. Then," Colabianchi concluded, "we need to identify someone with the ideal characteristics and evaluate which international figures could bring the greatest added value."
