VENICE, Italy (AP) — The storied Venetian opera house La Fenice is locked in an escalating dispute with its workers over the appointment of a young and telegenic music director with ties to Premier Giorgia Meloni but none with the musicians with whom she has been hired to construct the theater’s musical future.

On Monday, musicians, singers and backstage hands marched through Venice with workers from other Italian opera houses, including Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, Verona’s Arena and Turin’s Regio Teatro. They were joined by season-ticket holders, music students and Venetians worried about the future of artistic independence at La Fenice — and across Italy. What began as a labor protest over a lack of transparency in the Sept. 22 appointment of 35-year-old Beatrice Venezi has evolved into

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