Michael Finlay Robinson (born 3 March 1933) is an English composer, musicologist, and academic. His scholarly work focuses on opera of the 17th and 18th centuries; and in particular the development of Italian opera during the 1700s. His publications include the books Naples and Neapolitan Opera (Oxford University Press, 1972), Opera Before Mozart (Hutchinson, 1966), and A Thematic Catalogue of the Works of Giovanni Paisiello (Pendragon, vol 1. published in 1991 and vol. 2 in 1994). He also contributed to several collaborative works, including Research Chronicle of the Royal Musical Association (1972), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980) and Opera buffa in Mozart's Vienna (Cambridge University Press, 1997), and to several music journals like Music & Letters and Soundings.[1]
Robinson was born in Gloucester. He earned Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from New College, Oxford. In October 2009 he obtained the Oxford Doctor of Music degree by examination. He began his teaching career at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1960-1961 where he was a lecturer in the subjects of harmony and counterpoint. He has since served on the music faculties of Durham University (1961–1965), McGill University, and Cardiff University. In 1989 he was a visiting professor at the University of Naples. Upon his retirement in 1994 he was named a professor emeritus of Cardiff University.[1] [2]