''The Dolphins'' marked Yordanka Hristova’s rise to stardom

The grand diva of Bulgarian popular music, Yordanka Hristova, began her solo career at the age of just 20, in 1963, when she recorded the song "Serenada" (Serenade), with music by Ivan Marinov and lyrics by Nikolay Nikolov, impressively arranged by the young Milcho Leviev. At the time, Milcho Leviev was teaching at the Studio for Estrada Singers, Bulgaria's first music school for pop singers, and Yordanka Hristova was among his students in the school's first graduating class, who received their diplomas in 1964. Among her fellow graduates were future stars such as Boris Gudzhunov and Margarita Radinska.

The collaboration between Yordanka Hristova and Milcho Leviev continued with the recording of two songs based on lyrics by Radoy Ralin: "Edna Krasiva Greshka" (A Beautiful Mistake) and "Sasedat Trompetist" (The Trumpeter Next Door). These recordings led her to an iconic hit that earned the young, powerful-voiced, and charismatic singer her first award for a Bulgarian song at the "Songs for the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast" competition. The song was "Delfinite" (The Dolphins) with music by Dimitar Valchev and lyrics by Dimitar Kerelezov. The year was 1966, and from the following year, 1967, the competition adopted the legendary name by which it is known today: Golden Orpheus.

The charismatic Yordanka Hristova performs “The Dolphins” with inspiration and emotion, in her distinctive style shaped at the Studio for Estrada Singers under the direction of director Vili Tsankov. Years later, in an interview for Radio Jazz FM, Yordanka Hristova recalls:

''At the Studio for Estrada Singers, Vili Tsankov taught me directing and acting. He told me that every song is a three-to-four-minute etude, in which you must move people with the lyrics and be convincing. I took his words to heart… I did not focus so much on vocal exercises. Instead, I paid more attention to the lyrics. I immerse myself in the mood and try to create an atmosphere that, in my view, suits the lyrics and the theme''.

Yordanka Hristova has triumphed in more than 40 countries around the world: from Russia and Czechia to Germany and France, from Spain and Greece to Algeria and Syria, and from Canada to Nicaragua. She is regarded as the most popular Bulgarian in Cuba. Today, the star fondly recalls the 1960s:

“Dimitar Valchev was the conductor of the orchestra at the Satirical Theatre, and he offered me this song… He was an amazing musician! Very intelligent, very emotional, and he would sing his own songs in a way that I couldn’t even perform myself—with vocal range, dynamics and modulation. Mitko was wonderful; I have always loved him dearly. Decho Taralezhkov made a very restrained arrangement, unlike most festival ones—with large orchestras… He achieved an intimate sound; you can picture the scene… and you are there, with the dolphins…”

The undisputed hit “The Dolphins” remains to this day one of the brightest achievements of Bulgarian popular music and a testament to the exceptional talent of composer Dimitar Valchev. A committed advocate of a national identity in our musical art, he writes in his memoir book “The Other String”:

“In those years, a generation of composers set out to give Bulgarian pop songs a personal character, to infuse them with a national touch, our own sensibility, so that they would be recognizable, just like the popular songs of many other nations. I stand for this: that what is created, even if meant for entertainment, should have its own atmosphere and national color, its own “personnalité… It is true that a small country cannot break through into world culture, but in order to preserve our own dignity, should we forget the small crystals of our spiritual potential, buried under the absence of tradition and memory?”

“The Dolphins” – first appearance and first prize for Yordanka Hristova and Dimitar Valchev at “Golden Orpheus” in 1966. A magnificent highlight of Bulgarian musical culture…

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov