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David Stahl (conductor)
Encyclopedia
David Stahl was an American conductor who served as the Music Director
and Intendant
of the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
in Munich
and the Music Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. A student of Leonard Bernstein
, he was famous for his interpretation of Mahler
's works.
in the 1980s. He was born in Fürth
, Germany and attended the same elementary school as Henry Kissinger
. Edith Stahl, David Stahl's mother, immigrated to New York in 1938 from Essen
, Germany. David Stahl's grandfather, Dr. Leo Stahl (m. Anna Regensburger), was the Jewish Community Leader of Fürth during the Nazi era. He was interned in Dachau concentration camp from 11 November to 7 December 1938, and emigrated to England in 1939. Arriving in New York in 1947, he was, according to Das Schicksal der jüdischen Rechtsanwälte in Bayern nach 1933, by Reinhard Weber, unsuccessful in business and died there in 1952, aged 67. Frank's sister Liselotte, after a time in Manchester
, England, also came to New York, where she died in 2007.
. After making his Carnegie Hall
debut at age 23, he came under the tutelage of Leonard Bernstein, eventually taking over as music director of the Broadway production of West Side Story
. In 1984, he became Music Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra; a position he remained in until his death 26 years later. In 1996 he was invited to be guest conductor at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
. He assumed the title of Music Director there from 1999. He also worked frequently as a guest conductor of operas and musicals at major theatres around the world, including the Bavarian State Opera
, the Deutsche Oper Berlin
, the Lyric Opera of Chicago
, and the New York City Opera
among others.
As an enthusiast of Bernstein, he had been behind several revivals of Candide
, including conducting an acclaimed 2003 German language production narrated by Loriot
and a 2008 production in Charleston, South Carolina
. He was also involved in the staging of a notable production of Gershwin
's Porgy and Bess
in Charleston, the city where the opera is set, which went on to tour internationally in the early 1990s. In 2009 he celebrated 25 years at CSO and 10 years at the Gärtnerplatz.
David Stahl died of lymphoma
on October 24, 2010. His wife, Karen, died in September 2010. The couple had two children, Anna and Byron. David had met Karen when his daughter from a previous marriage, Sonya, became a student in Karen's kindergarten class at Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary.
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
and Intendant
Intendant
The title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...
of the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz is an opera house and opera company in Munich. Designed by the architect Michael Reiffenstuel, it opened on 5 November 1865 as the city's second opera house after the National Theatre....
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and the Music Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. A student of Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, he was famous for his interpretation of Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
's works.
Early life and family background
Stahl was born in New York City, the son of Jewish emigre parents. David Stahl's father, Frank L. Stahl, is an engineer who took part in the restoration of the Golden Gate BridgeGolden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
in the 1980s. He was born in Fürth
Fürth
The city of Fürth is located in northern Bavaria, Germany in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the two cities being only 7 km apart....
, Germany and attended the same elementary school as Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
. Edith Stahl, David Stahl's mother, immigrated to New York in 1938 from Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, Germany. David Stahl's grandfather, Dr. Leo Stahl (m. Anna Regensburger), was the Jewish Community Leader of Fürth during the Nazi era. He was interned in Dachau concentration camp from 11 November to 7 December 1938, and emigrated to England in 1939. Arriving in New York in 1947, he was, according to Das Schicksal der jüdischen Rechtsanwälte in Bayern nach 1933, by Reinhard Weber, unsuccessful in business and died there in 1952, aged 67. Frank's sister Liselotte, after a time in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England, also came to New York, where she died in 2007.
Professional career
Stahl studied conducting at Queens College, City University of New YorkQueens College, City University of New York
Queens College, located in Flushing, Queens, New York City, is one of the senior colleges of the City University of New York. It is also the fifth oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning. The college's seventy seven acre campus is located in the heart of the...
. After making his Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
debut at age 23, he came under the tutelage of Leonard Bernstein, eventually taking over as music director of the Broadway production of West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
. In 1984, he became Music Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra; a position he remained in until his death 26 years later. In 1996 he was invited to be guest conductor at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz is an opera house and opera company in Munich. Designed by the architect Michael Reiffenstuel, it opened on 5 November 1865 as the city's second opera house after the National Theatre....
. He assumed the title of Music Director there from 1999. He also worked frequently as a guest conductor of operas and musicals at major theatres around the world, including the Bavarian State Opera
Bavarian State Opera
The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
, the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
, the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
, and the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
among others.
As an enthusiast of Bernstein, he had been behind several revivals of Candide
Candide (operetta)
Candide is an operetta with music composed by Leonard Bernstein, based on the novella of the same name by Voltaire. The operetta was first performed in 1956 with a libretto by Lillian Hellman; but since 1974 it has been generally performed with a book by Hugh Wheeler which is more faithful to...
, including conducting an acclaimed 2003 German language production narrated by Loriot
Vicco von Bülow
Bernhard Victor Christoph Carl von Bülow , more commonly known under the pseudonym Loriot, was a German comedian, humorist, cartoonist, film director, actor and writer.He is most well known for his cartoons, the sketches from his 1976 television series...
and a 2008 production in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. He was also involved in the staging of a notable production of Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
in Charleston, the city where the opera is set, which went on to tour internationally in the early 1990s. In 2009 he celebrated 25 years at CSO and 10 years at the Gärtnerplatz.
David Stahl died of lymphoma
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
on October 24, 2010. His wife, Karen, died in September 2010. The couple had two children, Anna and Byron. David had met Karen when his daughter from a previous marriage, Sonya, became a student in Karen's kindergarten class at Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary.
Further sources
- Charleston Symphony Orchestra. David Stahl (link no longer available)
- Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. Golden Gate Bridge Anniversaries (70th)
- Koob, Lindsay (April 1, 2009). "Masterworks concert upholds high standards". Charleston City Paper
- Michael Müller Verlag. Reportage: Das jüdische Fürth. Eine langlebige Eintracht zwischen Katholiken, Protestanten und Juden
- Parker, Adam (March 29, 2009). "Musicians, staff agree to 'sacrifice'", The Post and CourierThe Post and CourierCharleston's The Post and Courier is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the South and the eighth oldest newspaper still in publication in the United States. It is published in Charleston, South Carolina. It traces its ancestry to three newspapers, the Charleston Courier, founded in 1803, the...
- Rieger, Susanne and Jochem, Gerhard (2006). "The Exclusion of Jewish Lawyers in Bavaria in December 1938". Rijo Research
- Schmid, Toni (January 2009). "Einmal Bayern – USA und Jahre später immer wieder hinüber und herüber". Aviso: Zeitschrift für Wissenschaft & Kunst in Bayern
- Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz. (Obituary of David Stahl)
- Stadt Fürth. Henry Kissinger
- Stadt Fürth. Jüdische Geschichte in Fürth
- Structurae. Frank L. Stahl
- Weber, Reinhard (2006). Schicksal der jüdischen Rechtsanwälte in Bayern nach 1933. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, p. 139. ISBN 3486580604