Nerissa De Juan Gives Farewell Concert Before Leaving for Austria

Live Soundscapes by Joseph John L. Verallo  |  October 2, 2025

Before her departure to Vienna later this month, renowned Soprano Nerissa de Juan gave one last performance at the Manila Pianos Showroom, Makati City. The evening was deeply personal, with a program consisting of songs that marked key points in De Juan’s artistic growth, she explained before the opening number. A characteristic of this concert was how De Juan would give brief pauses between certain songs to speak about the importance certain works had in her life.

As the program began, De Juan proceeded to the front of the room, donning a fuchsia-colored gown before giving her opening remarks. Teary-eyed, she took this opportunity to thank all those who’d helped her over the years, adding how her progress could only have been possible through their support. With that, she proceeded with the program.

The first half of the concert mostly consisted of art songs with occasional arias, such as Paisello’s “Nel cor più non mi sento.” Originally a duet in the opera L'amor contrastato, ossia La molinara, this aria was later arranged for soprano voice. Fresh from a voice choked with tears, de Juan impressively shifted right into character, singing with a smooth, flowing voice that professed the lyrics of a woman tortured by love. 

By the corner of the front space was a screen that displayed the lyrics with their translations. This allowed the audience to be fully taken into the performance. All music is poetic to a degree; however, with vocal music, this is literally the case as it contains lyrics sung by a distinct persona. As such, the performance was as much visual and literary as it was musical. De Juan expressed vivid emotions through her face and gestures along with the music. Accompanying her was her longtime friend and pianist Raki Gendrano, who would also mimic the expressions of the music, sometimes silently mouthing the lyrics along with the singer.

Faure’s Apres un reve stood out from the previous numbers with its haunting, ethereal opening phrase. De Juan’s voice beckoned and lamented to the audience with a tenderness natural to the French language. The alluring melodic rise and fall from the second stanza of Brahms’ Die Mainacht, accompanied by the piano’s repeating chords, created a nocturnal atmosphere that complemented the visual poetry of the lyrics. De Juan exhibited such control over the shape with her slow crescendos and subsequent diminuendos occurring in the song’s most memorable melody. Opening Strauss’s Strandchen was a light, impressionistic flurry of notes on the piano as de Juan entered with a call. By the song’s climax, de Juan’s forte filled the entire floor. 

Before ending the program’s first half, de Juan preluded the next song with another remark on the uniqueness of the next piece, Mendelssohn’s “Hear Ye, Israel” from his oratorio Elijah. The piece was distinct from the others: the first half was a lament before transitioning to a more authoritative tone with an upbeat accompaniment on the piano. Here was another display of the singer’s range of expression.

After the intermission, de Juan reentered the room, this time in an orange-red gown. She began once again with an exposition, explaining that this half mostly consisted of operatic arias. This portion more evidently displayed her virtuosity as a singer, shown through the flowery coloraturas in Rossini’s “Bel Raggio Lusinghier.” With the aria’s unrelenting melismas by its end, this opening piece was a thunderous introduction to the second half. 

In this portion, de Juan also sang Bizet’s “Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante” from the opera Carmen. This aria was a significant piece for her as it marked her international debut playing Micaëla in Singapore. 

The final two pieces were two kundimans. There was a considerable shift in the atmosphere when de Juan began singing Angel Pena’s Iyo Kailan Pa Man. The style was something wholly different from the previous European works. Instead, here was that familiar Filipino romanticism. This choice of Filipiniana could be taken as a love letter to the country she would be leaving indefinitely. 

There was something poetic in her choice of Felipe de Leon’s “Kay Tamis ng Buhay” as the program’s finale. In her remarks, de Juan explained to the audience that she studied the piece while unaware of its status. It wasn't until she’d decided to audition for a production of de Leon’s opera Noli me Tangere that she realized its significance. Her performance of this song led her to be chosen for the lead role of Maria Clara, thus marking her national debut at the age of 19. 

The concert was a bittersweet event, marking the departure of one of the country’s most talented sopranos. The program moved like a musical diary with de Juan offering personal insights and anecdotes on the pieces. It spoke of her musical development, from an uncertain young woman into the talented artist who stood before the room that evening.