(Credit: Giorgio Andreuccetti)

The Puccini Festival has announced a conductor change for its new production of “La Bohème.”

The company said that Manlio Benzi will replace Alberto Veronesi at the podium. The news comes after Veronesi blindfolded his eyes at the opening night of the production on July 14 in protest of Christophe Gayrel’s production which updated the opera to 1968.

At the time the festival condemned the actions and said that they would remove Veronesi from his commitment.

Benzi has conducted at the Bayerische Staatsoper,  Staatsoper Stuttgart, Paris Opera and Lincoln Center of New York, Semperoper in Dresden, and Staatsoper Hamburg, among others.

He will conduct a cast that includes Claudia Pavone, Oreste Cosimo, Federica Guida, and Alessandro Luongo.