Music: Prince Igor

The 20th century revival of Baroque music came about, says Harpsichordist Igor Kipnis, "for all the wrong reasons." One of the most wrong was the notion that the Baroque was a perfect antidote for the excesses of 19th century romanticism. Performers played the reborn works of the 17th and early 18th centuries in an unemotional, almost mechanical fashion. The sound seemed orderly and neatly stitched: "Sewing machine music in other words," says Kipnis. If the Baroque revival continues today with greater force than ever, the reason is that Kipnis, 44, and others like him have finally proved that the Baroque...

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