Astrée

Astrée, with a libretto by the famous poet Jean de La Fontaine, was Pascal Colasse’s fourth contribution to the repertory of the Royal Academy of Music, but it enjoyed little success and was never revived after its first run lasting only from 11 to 28 November 1692. It was offered as a tragedy in three acts and a prologue. Each of the three acts is inspired by a particular aspect of d’Urfé’s pastoral novel in five thousand pages. The first act corresponds suitably enough to the opening scene of…