The annual Chania Chamber Music Festival, held at the Minoa Palace Resort in Platanias, is an event unusually not linked to local traditional and cultural themes. Because of this and of the venue, it is something of a social occasion – an opportunity to enjoy some out-of-the-ordinary, top-level musical performances while dressing up in one’s summer best, greeting friends not so regularly seen, and enjoying a glass of prosecco and canapés during the extended interval.

This year, the 13^th Chamber Music Festival, which has as its theme “War and Peace”, offers a programme similar in structure to previous years, with some extra flourishes. The main programme will be five concerts held at the Minoa Palace from 25^th August to 1^st September, with an additional two free concerts at the archaeological site of ancient Aptera on 3^rd and 4^th September.

In addition, what is described as an avant première will be held at the Small Garden Theatre of Heraklion at 9.00 pm on Sunday 24th August, an event co-organised and supported by the Region of Crete, with free but prebooked entry. An additional feature will be a lecture by historian Maria Efthymiou, which will set the broader political and social context of the works to be presented. The official description of the event, as given on the Festival website, runs as follows:

“The Art of Music is, by its very nature, an endless ‘study’ of composing contrasts and conflicts: sound is born from silence and ‘dies’ in it, harmonic relaxation follows tension, dissonant intervals seek their resolution in consonance, the loud contrasts with the soft, the different timbres of instruments create a diverse and constantly changing soundscape. In this light, great composers had highly effective artistic tools to express through their works the devastation and tragedy of war conflict as well as the blessing of peace, harmonious coexistence, and social happiness.

“Under this musical prism and on the occasion of the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War II, the Chania Chamber Music Festival 2025 unfolds a thematic thread that connects significant works written just before, just after, or during the War – works written to celebrate triumphs, mourn defeats, reflect on the crushing nature of death, and contemplate the value of life.

“At the same time, the Festival pays tribute to the centenary of the birth of our great composer Mikis Theodorakis by presenting one of his most ground-breaking and pyrotechnic works, the Fourth String Quartet.”

The full programme is as follows:
Sunday 24^th August – Small Garden Theatre, Heraklion – 9.00 pm
Wounds & Lamentations [80 years since the end of World War II – 50 years since the death of Dmitri Shostakovich]
MIETZISLAV WEINBERG (1919–1996): Piano Quintet, Op. 18
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906–1975): String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110

Monday 25^th August – Minoa Palace Resort, Platanias – 9.00 pm
Wounds & Lamentations [80 years since the end of World War II – 50 years since the death of Dmitri Shostakovich]
MIETZISLAV WEINBERG (1919–1996): Piano Quintet, Op. 18
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906–1975): String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110

Tuesday 26^th August – Minoa Palace Resort, Platanias – 9.00 pm
Parallel event: Lecture by historian Maria Efthymiou

Wednesday 27th August – Minoa Palace Resort, Platanias – 9.00 pm
Light and Shadow
ALFRED SCHNITTKE (1934–1998) – Trio for violin, viola and cello
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) – Trio for piano, clarinet, and cello in B-flat major
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791) – Sonata for two pianos in D Major

Friday 29th August – Minoa Palace Resort, Platanias – 9.00 pm
Transformations – 100 years since the birth of Mikis Theodorakis
MIKIS THEODORAKIS (1925–2021) – String Quartet No. 4 “Mass”
SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891–1953) – Sonata for Piano No. 6 in A Major, Op. 82
RICHARD STRAUSS (1864–1949) – Transformations (transcription for string septet)

Sunday 31st August – Minoa Palace Resort, Platanias – 9.00 pm
Before the Storm [80 years since Bartók’s death]
ANTONIS TZIVENIS (b. 2000) – Selection from the 10 pieces for string quartet
LEOŠ JANÁČEK (1854–1928) – Concerto for piano, two violins, viola, clarinet, horn, and bassoon
BELÁ BARTÓK (1881–1945) – Sonata for two pianos and percussion

Monday 1^st September – Minoa Palace Resort, Platanias – 9.00 pm
Variations of Victory [50 years since the end of the Vietnam War]
FREDERIC RZEWSKI (1938–2021) – El pueblo unido jamás será vencido! (People united will never be defeated!) (1975)

Wednesday September 3rd and Thursday September 4^th, Ancient Theatre of Aptera
The Soldier’s Tale
IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882–1971) – The Soldier’s Tale (for clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, percussion, violin, and double bass)

Ticket sales
Tickets for all the concerts are or will be available on the Ticketservices website at https://www.ticketservices.gr/event/13th-chamber-music-festival-chania/?lang=en.

At the time of writing tickets for the events at Heraklion and Aptera were not yet available, but those for the other concerts can be purchased. Ticket prices for the main events are €15.00, with concessions at €7.00 for students, the disabled, those aged 25 or under and the unemployed. A season tickets for the five main concerts and the lecture costs €60.00.

The events at Heraklion and Aptera are free but prebooked entry passes are required. It should be noted that the concerts at Aptera are highly sought after and entry passes are usually exhausted within a sort space of time after booking opens.

Further information, including details of the performers, can be found on the Festival website at https://www.chambermusicfestival.gr/. The poster and illustrations are from the website programme.