New Year’s concert at the Fenice in Venice, the whole choir with the “pin of dissent” against the nomination of Beatrice Venezi

The warmth of the audience floods the Teatro La Fenice with ten minutes of applause, but behind the festively decorated stage the cold still reigns. For the first time, the mayor’s traditional greeting to the choir and orchestra was skipped, as happened every year before the start of the New Year’s concert.

The initial tension

A clear sign of tension which the mayor however justified by saying that there was no time because he had to speak with the undersecretary of Culture Gianmarco Mazzi, who was also present in the Royal Box with Federico Mollicone (FdI), president of the Chamber’s Culture Commission and other authorities such as the prefect Darco Pellos and the police commissioner Gaetano Bonaccorso. The successful New Year’s Concert took place in a festive atmosphere with the stage decorated with flowers, red berries and golden branches and an audience that applauded several times. A great debut for the conductor Michele Mariottiat its premiere in Venice, with the silent protest pin in plain sight, pinned to his tailcoat. Before the start, some musicians have indeed delivered to the audience the pin of dissent, symbol of the unity of the Choir Orchestra which since the end of September have been asking for the revocation of the nomination of Beatrice Venezi as musical director of the Fenice as her professional profile is not considered adequate and the resignation of the superintendent Nicola Colabianchi.

The applause and the request for an encore

However, the leaders – from the mayor Luigi Brugnaro to the superintendent Nicola Colabianchi via Mollicone – have reiterated their intention to continue. Brugnaro, relaunching the idea of ​​a meeting between Choir and Orchestra and Venezi, said that he wants to give confidence to young people and that the concert was beautiful. The mayor joined in the great applause of the entire audience, who asked for an encore from the orchestra, choir and singersand on the sidelines of the event he wanted to speak with a certain optimism about the events following the appointment of the teacher Beatrice Venezi as musical director of the Teatro La Fenice: «I believe that a form of opening is already in fact there, thanks also to these latest concerts. The hope is that the beginning of the year also brings with it a new season of dialogue. I believe that director Venezi should be given a chance: the proposal for a “trip” to a neutral field, for a concert during which the various actors can get to know each other, has been made and we are working on it. Let’s hope we all win, this is my hope.” Mollicone meanwhile recalled that this government was the one that did the most for opera, also wearing the pin: «I wear it because I read that it is also in defense of La Fenice and I want to interpret it in this way, demonstrating that there is no closure, but that there is openness to dialogue in comparison but that all roles must be respected and certainly that of director Venezi too».

January 1, 2026 (changed January 1, 2026 | 5:43 pm)

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED