Toti, Giuseppe

Giuseppe Toti (Giuseppe di Foiano Totti) (ca.1750 - 1832/33) was a singer and composer of Italian origin, apparently established in service at the Royal Chapel of Ajuda Palace, just outside Lisboa, by 1780. Toti was listed as organist, composer and master of music, dividing his time between liturgical ceremonies of the Royal Chapel of Ajuda and other ecclesiastical establishments, the royal theatres, and the Royal Chamber. He made a long-running operatic career, always as a soprano, most probably a castrato. As the Portuguese king, Joao VI, left for Brazil when Napoleon Bonaparte’s generals advanced on Lisboa in 1807, court, including theatre, musical chapel etc. was reestablished in Rio de Janeiro. Toti, who at that time acted as teacher to the children of the royal family, would most probably have moved with them to continue his work there, but his whereabouts in this period are not well documented. Neither is it known when he eventually returned to Lisboa, where he died.