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Questa Voce
"Let your throatsong be clear and strong enough to make an emperor fall fulllength, suppliant, at the door."
~Rumi
This is a multiwriter blog where opera and classical singers share their take on technique, general singing, audition
experiences, and musical life in general.

THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2010

Being Don Ottavio

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Don Ottavios age is a crucial part of how his character behaves, the
consideration of his effectiveness is at the core of his actions. From a
historical perspective, it would be natural for Ottavio to be an older
man in relation to Donna Anna in fact, he could very well be close to
the Commendatores age, or slightly younger.
This choice, as mentioned before, makes sense from a historical
perspective (it is hard to conceive that Donna Anna would have had
much of a say in the choice of her fianc at this point in history and
social rank) but also puts a contrast between Don Ottavio and the titular
Don Giovanni. Giovanni is young, strong and full of energy, whereas
Ottavio is no longer the young man he used to be: his actions are
covered with the extra layer of caution one is likely to acquire with age
(if not through more judicious thinking, then at least out of self
preservation.) He is far from being Don Giovannis physical equal and to
confront him without solid evidence (which he gets at the end of Act I)
is to take unnecessary risks.

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Age also changes the perspective from which he attacks his two arias.
Dalla Sua Pace sung by an older Ottavio must acquire a certain
melancholy: he wishes for nothing in the world except for Donna Anna
to be happy, and his happiness is directly tied to hers. He is an older
man who now must be more than a future husband to his distraught
fiance, he must adopt a paternal position (Don Ottavio as an older
man is reinforced in Act I, Scene III, No.2 where Ottavio says lascia,
cara, la rimembranza amara: hai sposo e padre in me during their
duet immediately after discovering the Commendatores body) and his
first thought is not one of avenging Donna Anna, but a gesture of
affection and a mature reflection on their intertwined fate.
Il Mio Tesoro, on the other hand, becomes the moment of
redemption for Ottavio. In the face of all the atrocities committed by
Giovanni (and which link him to the original crime the Commendatores
death) he can no longer be cautious or hesitant it is time for him to
finally awaken and bring muchdelayed justice to bear upon Don
Giovannis head ( with perhaps the best moment for a full dramatic
awakening of the character happening on the vado of a vendicar io
vado! which culminates on a held high F, and which descends down an
octave.) This is the moment in which Ottavio passes from reasonable
doubt to absolute certainty, and it should reflect in the characters
expressions and movement, his sense of resolve has shifted from
protecting and comforting Donna Anna towards full retaliation. In truth,
Ottavios turning was triggered at the Dons party, but this is the first
time Ottavio has an opportunity to have a moment all to himself,
dramatically.
Ottavios heroic purpose is not insincere, but fortunately he is spared
having to deal with the Don himself: his purpose and morals are noble,
but we have already seen the Don is most capable in a fight, and we get
the impression Ottavio wouldnt survive a duel with Giovani. Rather, the
Don finds death comes to visit him as a result of his own actions
leaving Donna Elvira to find closure, Donna Anna to mourn, and Don
Ottavio to hope perchance to marry her someday.
If Don Ottavio is played as a young man, I think it would be important to
play him as a younger man to Don Giovanni: whereas the older Don
Ottavio is at a physical disadvantage to Giovanni, the younger Ottavio
would be at a social disadvantage. As a younger man Giovannis
friendship to him would become more of an older man(mentor) to a
young man recently introduced to society (and perhaps even add an
extra layer of deceit and cruelty to Giovannis actions, since he
essentially might have befriended Ottavio in order to get to Anna.)
Having Giovanni be Ottavios mentor figure would explain Ottavios
reticence to act from a different angleOttavio has grown accustomed
to Giovannis front as an honorable man, and is loath to think that
someone who has been such an important figure to him could be two
faced. Also, being older than Ottavio, Don Giovanni is more established
a name in their society of nobility than the younger man, thus making
the prospect of accusing someone with greater influence a daunting
one.
In both cases Ottavio is cautious and needs proof before he acts, but in

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Blog Archive
2010 (6)
07/18 07/25 (1)
07/11 07/18 (1)
Being Don Ottavio
03/28 04/04 (1)
03/14 03/21 (1)
02/21 02/28 (1)
01/10 01/17 (1)
2009 (12)

each case it comes from a different perspective (or end of the age
spectrum, as it is.)
The other issue at hand is that of social rank: Giovanni and Ottavio are
both equals in rank, though we dont know exactly how powerful each
truly is (who has a greater number of land, riches, etc.) The nature of
their stratified society makes dealing with Giovanni a more difficult
matter, since although nobles could adjudicate to lower classes,
targeting someone in the strata of nobility was tricky. Frank E. Smitha
writes that In Spain the landed aristocracy was holding on to its
powers, and many if not most Spaniards clung to the values of the
aristocracy. They believed that business was fit only for Jews, Arabs
and other foreigners. () Spain's nobility was one tenth of its
population. They spent some of their fortune seeking government
office, and in government, it is said, were thirty parasites for every
man who did an honest day's work. Some of the nobility maintained
customs barriers as a source of revenue, taxing commerce and driving
up prices.
It is clear that Giovanni has been getting away with his trademark
conduct for some time, and that he has not come to an untimely death
only to the possibility of his influence. No amount of influence,
however, can eventually keep his misdeeds from coming to a headDon
Giovanni as an opera demonstrates what is possibly the worst day in the
life of the Don, but also the breaking point of the privilege which has
shielded him for so longhe has accumulated outrage after outrage and
strung them up through his life like a collar of pearls. The end of the
opera shows what happens when the string breaks and the pentup
hatred he has accumulated runs unchecked: his enemies gradually
hound him to destruction. The true catalyst (in the opera) of Don
Giovannis misfortune is Donna Elvira, whose mixture of insane devotion
and righteous revulsion allows Ottavio and Elvira to find an ally, and
sets the Dons doom in motion starting at the end of Act I, with the
Dons apparent victory (by escape.)
Ottavio at his very core is a noble character. He is not ideally heroic, as
his caution robs him of the opportunity to end evil before it can cause
more harm, but he nevertheless does not waver when he knows that his
course is true. To portray him in weakness is to mistake the nature of
his character: he is not a dashing personality, his most natural impulse
is to protect, and it is this impulse that he eventually must overcome in
order to champion Donna Anna.
Posted by The Radioactive Tenor at 2:47 PM

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