The cello music of David Popper (1843–1913) has, in recent decades, experienced a notable revival in recordings and concert programming. Today, listeners and performers have access to an impressive array of complete albums devoted to Popper’s music, with artists such as Wendy Warner, Laszlo Mezo, Maria Kliegel, Wen-Sinn Yang, Jiri Hošek and Dominika Hošková, and Martin Rummel, the latter currently working on a complete recorded edition of Popper’s works. This flourishing of Popper’s recorded legacy may give the impression that his music has long been a staple of the cello discography. Yet surprisingly, the first album dedicated entirely to Popper’s music appeared only in the mid-1970s.

Early Recordings of Individual Works

Popper’s compositions entered the recorded repertoire early in the twentieth century, albeit through isolated performances of his most popular showpieces. Cellists such as Pablo Casals, Emanuel Feuermann, and Beatrice Harrison recorded individual Popper works, which today are available only as part of artist-specific anthologies. These early documents reveal the stature Popper’s music already held among leading cellists of the day, though they did not yet result in an album-length project devoted solely to him.

The 1970s: First Dedicated Albums

The first known album entirely dedicated to Popper’s music was recorded by Gayle Smith (cello) and John Steele Ritter (piano), released in 1974 on Genesis. The LP notably bears a sticker proclaiming it a “world premiere recording.” The album focuses on lesser-known works such as Im Walde, Romanze, Op. 5, Mazurka, Op. 51, and the Sarabande and Gavotte, Op. 10, while also including two of Popper’s most famous salon pieces, the Gavotte No. 2 and Hungarian Rhapsody. This pioneering recording stands as a landmark in the history of Popper’s discography, not only for its programming but also for its implicit assertion that Popper’s music merited scholarly and artistic attention on its own terms.

A year later, in 1975, Jascha Bernstein (not to be confused with Jascha Silberstein) collaborated with pianist Arthur Balsam on another Popper-dedicated LP, issued by the Musical Heritage Society. Their selections leaned toward the more standard recital repertoire: Polonaise de concert, Op. 14; Happy Recollections, Op. 64 No. 1; Mazurka in G minor, Op. 11 No. 3; Serenade, Op. 54 No. 2; Tarantelle, Op. 33; Arlequin, Op. 3 No. 1; Zur Guitarre, Op. 54 No. 1; Papillon, Op. 3 No. 4; and Requiem, Op. 66, featuring cellists Janos Scholz and Allen McGill. The combination of popular and lyrical works provided a representative cross-section of Popper’s idiom, making this one of the most comprehensive Popper recordings of its time.

It is worth noting that Jascha Silberstein’s 1972 release of Popper’s Concerto in E minor, Op. 24, though significant, was not a Popper-only album; it shared the LP with other composers’ concertos. Nonetheless, Silberstein’s effort contributed to keeping Popper’s larger-scale works in circulation during a time when they were rarely heard.

The 1980s: Janos Starker’s Enduring Legacy

The next major milestone came with Janos Starker’s 1989 release on the Delos label, recorded with pianist Shigeo Neriki. Starker, perhaps the greatest modern champion of Popper’s music, performed and taught Popper’s works throughout his career. His 1989 album includes an extensive and varied selection: Once Upon More Beautiful Days (In Memory of My Parents), Op. 64 No. 1; Gavotte in D minor, Op. 67 No. 2; Mazurka, Op. 11 No. 3; Vito, Op. 54 No. 5; Fantasie über kleinrussische Themen, Op. 43; Begegnung, Op. 3 No. 5; Papillon, Op. 3 No. 4; Herbstblume and Gnomentanz (from Im Walde, Op. 50); Spanischer Carneval, Op. 54 No. 3; Nocturne, Op. 47; Gavotte in D major, Op. 23 No. 2; Chanson villageoise, Op. 62 No. 2; Wiegenlied, Op. 64 No. 3; Elfentanz, Op. 39; Serenade, Op. 54 No. 2; Spinning Song, Op. 55 No. 1; Feuillet d’album, Op. 52 No. 1; Menuetto, Op. 65 No. 2; and Tarantelle, Op. 33.

This generous selection effectively established a canon of Popper’s shorter works for modern audiences. Starker also brought renewed pedagogical attention to Popper’s High School of Cello Playing, Op. 73, through his instructional LP The Road to Cello Playing, which introduced many young cellists to Popper’s études. His influence continues through his many students and their students, who have carried forward Popper’s legacy as performer, teacher, and composer.

The 1990s: Expansion and Orchestral Recordings

In the 1990s, Popper’s discography expanded to include orchestral works. Jiri Hošek recorded the first album featuring Popper’s Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 and the Hungarian Rhapsody, released in 1993; a milestone as the first full Popper album with orchestra.

Two years later, in 1995, Antonio Meneses released a striking album on Pan Classics, which was for many listeners (myself included) a gateway into Popper’s music. The recording includes Concerto No. 2, Im Walde, Tarantella, Op. 33, Papillon, Op. 3 No. 4, Hungarian Rhapsody, and Elfentanz, Op. 39. This recording’s artistry and orchestral color brought Popper’s Romantic expressivity vividly to life. I was personally drawn to Im Walde through this recording, a work I later performed during the pandemic—a piece that continues to hold deep personal significance.

That same year (although recorded in 1994), Marc Moskovitz and pianist Michael Boyd released a Popper album including Romanze, Op. 5; Im Walde, Op. 50; Nocturne, Op. 42; Polonaise de concert, Op. 14; Suite for Two Cellos, Op. 16 (with cellist Steven Shumway); and the Requiem, Op. 66 (with Shumway and Freya Samuels). This album brought renewed attention to Popper’s chamber works for multiple cellos, an aspect of his output that continues to resonate with pedagogues and performers alike.

Conclusion

By the end of the twentieth century, a foundation for Popper’s modern reception had been firmly laid through the dedicated efforts of these early recording artists. From Gayle Smith’s pioneering 1974 LP to Antonio Meneses’s virtuosic orchestral interpretations in the mid-1990s, each of these albums contributed to transforming Popper’s image from a “salon composer” into a major figure in the cello repertoire.

In the twenty-first century, Popper’s music continues to flourish, thanks to the efforts of cellists like Martin Rummel, whose ongoing complete recording project and the David Popper website (which I have had the privilege to co-curate) ensure that Popper’s legacy remains vibrant and accessible. What began as a trickle of recordings before 2000 has now become a growing library, a testament to Popper’s enduring contribution to the cello’s expressive world.