Europe’s youngest orchestra conductor, Beatrice Venezi made her American debut in November 2019. At the age of 29, she conducted Andrea Bocelli’s concert at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. She released My Journey, her first album, a month earlier. The record realizes the Symphonic Works of Giacomo Puccini with the Orchestra della Toscana. The principal conductor of the world-renowned Milano Classica Orchestra and the Naples-based Scarlatti Young Orchestra, Venezi is above all an enthralling woman from Lucca in Tuscany — which also happens to be the hometown of her beloved Puccini. In 2017, Forbes magazine, unsurprisingly, included her on their list of “100 Leaders of the Future Under 30.”
At her home in Lugano, a city in Switzerland that shares a border with Italy, she’s spent a lot of her time these days “working on myself. I play sports, cook with my boyfriend, and study for upcoming concerts.”
During the pandemic, she recorded a video concert featuring 40 members of her orchestra playing from their homes for Milano Classica’s YouTube channel. They performed Italy's national anthem, Il Canto degli Italiani (The Song of the Italians), also known as Mameli’s Hymn, and the First Movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony — seven days of work for seven minutes of music. Now, she says, “is the moment to give.”
She dropped by our kitchen to cook a clam sauté, a recipe inspired by her father Gabriele, a fish maestro, along with some toast.
“When I receive guests, the first thing I do is offer them a glass of wine.” She’s a big fan of Leonia di Frescobaldi, a sparkling wine. The winery awarded her the 2019 Leonia Frescobaldi Prize for
Audacity, named after the woman who won a medal for her wines at an 1878 male-dominated wine expo.
Photography: Riccardo Lettieri; Styling: Beatrice Prada
Beatrice Venezi's Clam Sauté With Orange and Toast
Skill Level: Easy
Time 20 minutes + 2 hours soaking the clams
Ingredients for 4
2 lb. clams (vongole veraci)
1 organic lemon peel, finely chopped
1 organic orange peel, finely chopped
1 organic lime peel, finely chopped
1 fresh chili pepper, chopped
parsley, chopped
garlic cloves, chopped
salt
sliced almonds
dry white wine
extra-virgin olive oil
Drizzle a pan with olive oil and cook the chopped garlic cloves, then add the chopped parsley and chili pepper.
Add the clams and let cook until they open — they should start “singing” in 4 - 5 minutes. Add 1⁄2 glass white wine and the finely chopped citrus peels.
In the meantime, prepare the bruschetta to serve with the sauté.
Pour plenty of extra-virgin olive oil and then toast it in the pan. Add another handful of chopped parsley along with some chopped almonds to the clams, then serve with the bruschetta.
To Download
My Journey: Puccini’s Symphonic Works
Beatrice Venezi’s first album, released by Warner Music Italia, is a passionate homage to the composer.