Tribute to David Stahl set for Saturday

  • Bill Thompson
    • Facebook
  • Posted: Sunday, April 10, 2011 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Friday, March 23, 2012 6:13 p.m.
  • Text size: A A A
The late David Stahl, conductor of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.
Photo by Wade Spees /The late David Stahl, conductor of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.

For more than 25 years, David Stahl was the face and motive force of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.

Born in New York City to German emigre parents, he would study under Leonard Bernstein and make his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 23, later becoming highly regarded for his interpretation of the works of Gustav Mahler.

As music director of the Staatstheater am Gartnerplatz in Munich as well as the CSO, Stahl was among a select few who held directorships of both an opera house and a symphony orchestra on both sides of the Atlantic. In the end, he was an ambassador for all the fine arts in Charleston.

Stahl died Oct. 24 last year, 10 days before his 61st birthday, after a brief battle with lymphoma.

In celebration of his career and contributions, 200 artists from the Charleston Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, the College of Charleston Concert Choir, the Taylor Festival Choir and other artists from across the Southeast will join conductor Dr. Robert Taylor for a performance of Brahms' "German Requiem" at 8 p.m. Saturday at Memminger Auditorium.

Soprano Saundra DeAthos of the San Francisco Opera and baritone David Templeton of Charleston will be the featured soloists.

Also among the guest artists will be baritone Adam Parker, a writer for The Post and Courier.

CSO Concertmaster Yuriy Bekker says that the concert has particular resonance for him in that he was on hand for one of the last performances Stahl conducted, which was in Munich last summer. There had been no indication at the time that Stahl might be ill.

Stahl was proud of his German heritage and especially fond of the "German Requiem," which will be sung in that language, say organizers.

"The intent of this Requiem is to first bless the souls of those who mourn, and certainly to bless the souls of those who have left us, but it is also very much about a community coming together to celebrate the great works and accomplishments that live on," Taylor says.

"This work is so appropriate to recognize all David did for his symphony, as well as for our city, the arts in general, and for our chorus, too."