THE MUSICI
The musici , were easy targets for ridicule as well as admiration, unmistakable not only in their vocalism but in their physical appearance as well. Their operation feminized them and while some were extolled for their physical beauty and could have passed for women, many became quite tall and carried abnormally large rib cages on poorly developed legs. There is some difference of opinion concerning their acting skills. It is recorded that the great Farinelli, the most famous musico , "stood perfectly still when he sang and made few gestures." But an observer wrote of another, Nicolini, "His action was so significant that a deaf man might go along with him in the sense of the part he acted." On balance, they probably acted no better or worse than other singers, though we know of one musico , Guadagni, who studied acting with one of the best actors in Europe. He may just have been a uniquely adventuresome person, as he also sang the Messiah under Handel and so was probably the first musico to perform in a language other than Italian. That the musici could sing was not disputed: The vocal range of the musico seems not to have been remarkable for its extent, but his facility in execution was stupendous. Composers and singers strove ever to invent new feats of vocal jugglery with which to bewilder and delight the public. The flexibility of Farinelli's voice was so highly developed that the violins in the orchestra could not follow him in his flights. Cafarelli was renowned for the perfection of his trill and was the first to embellish his airs with rapid chromatic scales. --Francis Rogers, The Male Soprano Trained as thoroughly in the art of ornamentation as they were in vocalism, these phenomenal virtuosos expected, like all singers, to elaborate and complete the composer's musical outline with their improvisations. In doing so, they gained a hold over their audiences comparable to the most popular entertainers of today. Their fame and fortune was so alluring it became the dream of many poor families that their son might help them escape poverty through such a career. Riding the crest of public adulation, it seems the musici should have little fear for their future. Yet in reality their fabulous FIORITURA displays were becoming excessive and badly slowing the movement of the already meager drama. The restless public would soon find the light, comic interludes (intermezzi ) performed between the acts of the serious operas--like half-time shows in modern day sporting events--were more to their liking than the main event. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Harrell Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2012 11:19 PM To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' Subject: Re: [Futurework] Radiation levels at Fukushima Plant 10X lethal dose Good to see you back on line. :>)) REH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Harry Pollard Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2012 1:07 PM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION Subject: Re: [Futurework] Radiation levels at Fukushima Plant 10X lethal dose Ray, I don't know how many people have died from the effects of radiation, but I do know that many thousands died directly from the tsunami. Yet, umpteen times as much is written about the nuclear plant damage as is written about the 20,000 or so who died and the hundreds of thousands who lost their homes and everything they possessed. This superstitious Japanese are trying to end their dependence on nuclear power. They will no doubt replace it with coal or oil both of which kill a lot of people. Solar and wind power can't possibly replace our present production of power and, in any case, is too expensive. Trying to use them simply reduces the standard of living for most people. New reactor designs are incomparably better than the 50-60-year-old designs we use now. They are cheaper to build, safe, and can deliver the continuous power that we need. But first we have to get past superstition and ideological advocacies. Harry \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 6:28 AM, Ray Harrell <[email protected]> wrote: Where's Harry when you need him? REH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of D & N Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2012 3:52 PM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION Subject: [Futurework] Radiation levels at Fukushima Plant 10X lethal dose http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/28-1 Published on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 by Common Dreams <http://www.commondreams.org> Experts: Radiation at Fukushima Plant Far Worse Than Thought Water at surprisingly low levels; damage "worse than expected" - Common Dreams staff Radiation levels inside Fukushima's reactor 2 have reached fatally high levels, and levels of water are far lower than previously thought, experts say today. <https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=7012dc7e19&view=att&th=136b6e9e88 9dc08b&attid=0.1&disp=emb&realattid=7b8a60a6c887c8b2_0.0.1&zw&atsh=1> A radiation monitor indicates 131.00 microsieverts per hour near the No.4 and No.3 buildings at the tsunami-crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)'s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture February 28, 2012. (REUTERS/Kimimasa Mayama/Pool) The current radiation levels are so high that even robots cannot enter. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) says that new robots and equipment will need to be developed to deal with the lethal levels of radiation. TEPCO spokesperson Junichi Matsumoto told the Associated Press, "We have to develop equipment that can tolerate high radiation" when locating and removing melted fuel during the decommissioning. At ten times the lethal dose, the radiation levels are at their highest point yet. At the current level of 73 sieverts, the data gathering robots can only stand two to three hours of exposure. But, Tsuyoshi Misawa, a reactor physics and engineering professor at Kyoto University's Research Reactor Institute, told The Japan Times, "Two or three hours would be too short. At least five or six hours would be necessary." He added that "the shallowness of the water level is a surprise, and the radiation level is awfully high." * * * The Japan Times: Reactor 2 radiation too high for access <http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120328x1.html> 73 sieverts laid to low water; dose too high even for robots Radiation inside the reactor 2 containment vessel at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has reached a lethal 73 sieverts per hour and any attempt to send robots in will require them to have greater resistance than currently available, experts said Wednesday. Exposure to 73 sieverts for a minute would cause nausea and seven minutes would cause death within a month , Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. The experts said the high radiation level is due to the shallow level of coolant water - 60 cm - in the containment vessel, which Tepco said in January was believed to be 4 meters deep. Tepco has only peeked inside the reactor 2 containment vessel. It has few clues as to the status of reactors 1 and 3, which also suffered meltdowns, because there is no access to their insides. The utility said the radiation level in the reactor 2 containment vessel is too high for robots, endoscopes and other devices to function properly. * * * BBC News: Probe finds high radiation in damaged Fukushima reactor <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17533398> The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has said damage to one of the reactors is much worse than previously thought. [...] On Tuesday workers managed to insert a probe into reactor number two for only the second time and found damage worse than expected. Radiation was up to 10 times the fatal dose, the highest yet recorded at the plant. The level of water cooling the melted-down nuclear fuel was also far lower than expected. The other two melted-down reactors, which are yet to be examined closely, could be in an even worse state, our correspondent adds. _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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