A distinguished cellist, composer and teacher, David Popper was a student of Julius Goltermann at the Prague Conservatory. Popper graduated performing his own concerto. In 1864 Popper was a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic, Hans von Bülow conducting. Popper was the first cellist to perform concertos of Joseph Haydn and Robert Schumann. Franz Liszt who admired Popper, appointed Popper a professor of the National Hungarian Royal Academy of Music.