Jerry Hadley sings "Il Mio Tesoro Intanto" from Don Giovanni by W. A. Mozart; Conductor: James Levine; MET 5.4.1990 In memoriam Jerry Hadley - unforgotten tenor (June 16, 1952 - July 18, 2007) en.wikipedia.o...
Yes, Don Ottavio should be sung by a full lyric manly tenor voice, as here by Mr. Hadley. A symbol of everything a virtuous real man should be, Ottavio is everything the Don is not. He is, then, the explicit foil to Giovanni-- a symbolic paragon of masculine virtues. PS- spare us the counter-tenor craze, please God.
that's a point of view, but there are much more subtle interpretations of this sublime opera: every character is never what they want to appear, Don Giovanni is a sexually impotent (never has sex through all the score), just a myth boasted by his servant, don Ottavio is a coward, who just goes promising revenges he never acts, donna Anna is a noble hypocrit (it's never clear if she really didn't give in don Giovanni's attempts), Zerlina is just a social climber and so on...
I agree that these interpretations both offer interesting ways to view the characters and story. However, whether Ottavio is a the true foil to Don G or a coward, either interpretation can be sung well, with a focused, clear tone that is not overly “sentimental” to the point of losing clarity and projection. Even if Ottavio is a wimp, I’m not at the opera to hear wimpy singing.
