Astrée

A classical record label founded 1975 by Michel Bernstein, a French music producer and creator of a number of record labels. It was sold to Auvidis in 1985, who was then bought by Naïve. Astrée focussed on 17th century French music, for organ, harpsichord, viola da gamba and lute. Its motto was 'Deffense & Illvstration de la Mvsiqve Française', reflecting Joachim du Bellay's 1549 treatise on the French language. Astrée, along with Harmonia Mundi by Bernard Coutaz, was a specialist in early music and featured Blandine Verlet, Paul Badura-Skoda, Hopkinson Smith, Michel Chapuis, and the first recordings of Philippe Herreweghe, Quatuor Mosaïques, Rinaldo Alessandrini and many others. One of the great artists on the label was Jordi Savall, whom Bernstein recruited from EMI Records Ltd.. Most of the artists of Astrée remained with Auvidis-Naïve, except Jordi Savall who founded his own label, Alia Vox, by buying back the rights to the catalog. Label Code: LC 4543 / LC 04543