A burnished glow for classic gold

Many music lovers have an inordinate fondness for “the good old days” -- a time when, it is firmly believed, musical giants roamed the Earth spreading unparalleled artistry as they went. Personally, I get enough pleasure from so many of today’s music makers that I couldn’t possibly dismiss the present. But hit me with a classical golden oldie, and I can start waxing about the superiority of the past too.

That’s what I’ve been doing lately, ever since falling under the spell of Angel/EMI’s Classical Archive series on DVD, one of the most notable achievements yet in the art of excavating musical vaults. This audio and visual evidence easily supports the contention that they don’t make ‘em like that anymore.

These 17 DVDs present a parade of luminaries from the 20th century, several of them already in danger of being forgotten in the post-digital age. If you’re still shopping for classical music fans on your holiday gift list, I would expect any of these items to be gratefully received.

The footage on these DVDs, mostly in black and white, comes primarily from England’s BBC and France’s Institut National de l’Audiovisuel. Don’t expect a lot of fancy camera work. Some of the programs look quite primitive by contemporary TV standards. And once in a while the sound isn’t great. But technical shortcomings, audio or visual, are the exception, easily overlooked in light of all the magical music-making.

Credit Stephen Wright, managing director of IMG Artists Worldwide, with spearheading the rescue of that magic from storage. The 10-year project involved securing licensing agreements, viewing more than 1,000 hours of TV film and remastering the selected programs.

Each disc, named for the performer(s), contains bonus material, often worth the price of the DVD (about $25) by itself.

Here, in no particular order, is a Classic Archive sampling:

* Leopold Stokowski: The grand old conductor, then 87, leads a noble, broadly paced account of Beethoven’s Fifth with the London Philharmonic in 1969. Bonus: Pierre Monteux, filmed in 1961, the year he became the London Symphony’s principal conductor (at 86!), guides that ensemble with quiet authority in a delectable version of Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”

* Regine Crespin: This eloquent soprano, filmed from 1965 to 1972, sings Berlioz (a mesmerizing “Le Spectre de la Rose”), Schumann (a sublimely poetic “Mondnacht”), Brahms and more. Bonus: Marvelous souvenirs from 1959 and 1961 of another French soprano, Denise Duval, in music by Francis Poulenc, who accompanies her.

* Jascha Heifetz, Artur Rubinstein, Gregor Piatigorsky: Not, alas, performing together. An octogenarian Rubinstein delivers thoughtful, mostly persuasive Beethoven (Piano Concerto No. 4, 1967) and, as the bonus track, aristocratic Chopin (1968). Heifetz is heard in trademark repertoire (1949), Piatigorsky in a sterling 1957 account of William Walton’s Cello Concerto, written for him.

* Mstislav Rostropovich, Sviatoslav Richter: The cellist and pianist in an amazing 1964 recital from Edinburgh devoted to Beethoven’s five cello sonatas. Their exceptionally assured, insightful collaboration lights up the screen.

* Carlo Maria Giulini: The Italian conductor is elegant and dynamic in works by Mozart, Verdi, Mussorgsky and De Falla -- 1960s concerts with London orchestras. Bonus: What may be the only film footage of the highly talented, died-too-young Guido Cantelli conducting a tantalizing 1950 rehearsal of Rossini’s “Semiramide” Overture with the La Scala Orchestra.

* Teresa Berganza: Artistry and glamour from the Spanish mezzo, who sounds terrific in arias by Mozart, Donizetti and Rossini, not to mention songs by Spanish composers.

* Igor Markevitch: This Russian-born, poker-faced conductor imparts musical depth to 1960s concerts with the ORTF National Orchestra. His Wagner glows; Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms gets a vibrant workout. Bonus: Stravinsky leads the New Philharmonia in his own “Firebird” Suite, filmed in 1965, when he was 83 and showing his age. But he’s very much in control, eliciting a performance of great beauty and power. Excuse the cliche, but the only word that fits something like this is priceless.

Come to think of it, that description can be applied to the entire Classic Archive series.

Tim Smith is music critic at the Baltimore Sun, a Tribune company.