Appena finisce l'intervento, inizia la tavola rotonda.

Here appena means as soon as.

It introduces a time clause:

• Appena finisce l'intervento... = As soon as the talk/intervention ends...

A useful extra point: appena can also mean just / a moment ago in other contexts:

• Ho appena finito. = I just finished.

So the meaning of appena depends on how it is used in the sentence.

Because Italian often uses the present indicative for scheduled or expected future events, especially with time expressions.

So:

• Appena finisce l'intervento, inizia la tavola rotonda.

can naturally refer to the near future, just like English can say:

• As soon as the talk ends, the round table begins.

This is very common in Italian for programs, schedules, instructions, and sequences of events.

Italian usually does not need subject pronouns because the verb form already gives enough information, and the subject can also be stated with the noun itself.

Here the subjects are:

• l'intervento with finisce
• la tavola rotonda with inizia

So instead of saying something like it ends or it begins, Italian simply uses the verb plus the noun:

• finisce l'intervento
• inizia la tavola rotonda

This is completely normal in Italian.

L'intervento is il intervento contracted through elision.

Because intervento begins with a vowel, il becomes l':

• il libro
• l'intervento

As for meaning, intervento can mean different things depending on context:

• intervention
• speech
• talk
• contribution
• sometimes even operation/surgery

In this sentence, it most likely means a speech, presentation, or talk in a formal event.

Literally, tavola rotonda means round table.

But in this kind of context, it usually means a round-table discussion or panel discussion. So it is often not just a literal table, but the name of a type of event or discussion format.

This is a common expression in conferences, academic events, and public discussions.

Italian allows much more flexibility in word order than English.

In this sentence, putting the verb before the subject sounds natural, especially when describing events in sequence:

• finisce l'intervento
• inizia la tavola rotonda

You could also hear or see:

• Appena l'intervento finisce, inizia la tavola rotonda.

But the version with the noun after the verb is very common and often sounds smoother in this kind of formal or informational sentence.

The comma separates the introductory time clause from the main clause:

• Appena finisce l'intervento, = subordinate clause
• inizia la tavola rotonda. = main clause

This is similar to English punctuation in sentences like:

• As soon as the talk ends, the round-table discussion begins.

In Italian, this comma is very natural and generally preferred when the time clause comes first.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• Appena finisce l'intervento... = As soon as the talk ends...
• Quando finisce l'intervento... = When the talk ends...

Appena emphasizes that the second event starts immediately after the first one.
Quando is more neutral and does not stress immediacy as strongly.

So in your sentence, appena is a good choice because it highlights the immediate sequence of events.

The definite articles show that the speaker is referring to specific, identifiable things:

• l'intervento = the specific talk/speech
• la tavola rotonda = the specific round-table discussion

This makes sense in a program or event schedule, where both items are already known to the listener or reader.

If you said un intervento or una tavola rotonda, it would sound more like you were introducing them as non-specific items rather than referring to the scheduled events.