Is it possible anymore to tell a coherent history of “classical” music? Richard Taruskin attempts it with a six-volume 3,800-page new history. “Taruskin’s chef-d’oeuvre, however, is a feast of contrarian ideas, with enough spice to sting the palate of anyone with a stake in telling the old stories in the old way. It aims for nothing less than the revaluation of practically everything you thought you knew about “classical” music.”