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Robert Toft
Biography
Over the years, Robert Toft (PhD, King’s College, University of London, UK) has pursued a variety of projects within the research-creation paradigm. His interests focus on three broad areas: historical performance, audio recording, and popular music. Equally at home in each field, he has given over 100 masterclasses on historical principles of singing at leading international conservatories and university music schools. His book on recording has been included in the list of the 100 Best Music Production Books of All Time (bookauthority.org), and his monograph on 1960s popular music, Hits and Misses: Crafting Top 40 Singles, 1963 – 1971, is published by Bloomsbury.
Robert’s publications have been widely praised by performers and scholars. For instance, amongst his seven books, Bel Canto: A Performer’s Guide (Oxford University Press) has been described as “revolutionary” (Choral Journal) and “a must-read for singers, teachers of singing, vocal coaches, and conductors” (Early Music America), while With Passionate Voice: Re-Creative Singing in Sixteenth-Century England and Italy (Oxford University Press; Japanese translation published by Douwashoin) has been noted for its “unique blend of profound, searching scholarship [and] inspired application for teaching and guiding young performers” (Anthony Rooley, pre-publication review). In addition, two of Robert’s articles have been anthologized in collections of “the most important and influential published articles” that have “shaped” their fields (historical performance and popular music).
His practical and scholarly work has received international awards, including a Distinguished International Visitors Fellowship from the Australian Research Council for projects at the Universities of Melbourne and Sydney. In Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council recognized Robert’s unique combination of performance and scholarship with seven research-creation grants. He also has been part of an international team, based at the University of Sydney, that worked on historical bel canto performance (funding from the Australian Research Council).
Robert’s production company, Talbot Records, issued its first recording in 2017. Initially focused on historically-informed performance (HIP), the label has broadened its scope to include new music in neo-classical style.
Reviewers have described the first HIP release, Secret Fires of Love (Studio Rhetorica, directed by Robert Toft), as “overwhelmingly satisfying” (classicalexburns.com) and “of the utmost importance ... this disc ... deserves the attention of every performer ... it could change the way vocal music is performed quite drastically” (MusicWeb International). Another HIP release, piano works by Mozart and Beethoven performed by Thomas Leininger on the Faculty’s fortepiano, has been characterized as “daring and exciting … if you want to experience this music in a completely new way, then this exciting CD is definitely something for you” (Pizzicato).
The first neo-classical release, Say Farewell, features Robert's arrangements for tenor and piano of eight pieces from Stephan Moccio’s solo piano album Exposure (2006). Inspired by early seventeenth-century English poets and songwriters, Robert rooted the lyrics for the adaptations in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, crafting tales of hope and love through words and phrases drawn from the work of Shakespeare’s contemporaries. Daniel Thomson and Alan Demir recorded the adaptations for Talbot Records.