Petar Deltchev, the only Bulgarian violinist with two Paganini awards, has passed away at 75

published on 10/27/25 1:35 PM

Photo: Archive

Prominent Bulgarian violinist Petar Deltchev – an exceptionally talented musician with a difficult and sad fate – left this world on October 24, 2025. He was born in Sofia on December 28, 1949. It is noteworthy that he received his education only and exclusively in Bulgaria. At the Music School in Sofia, his teacher was Konstantin Zidarov, and at the Music Academy in Sofia – Prof. Vladimir Avramov and Prof. Georgi Badev.

Petar Delchev began his musical journey as a concert virtuoso, but his career, for a number of reasons, turned out to be unfairly short. Despite this, he achieved remarkable successes. At the age of 14, Petar Delchev became the absolute champion of the Kocian Violin Competition in Czechoslovakia.

Petar Deltchev is the only Bulgarian violinist who has been distinguished with two laureate awards at the prestigious Paganini Competition in Genoa (Paganini Concorso Internazionale di Violino). The first one he won in 1967. According to the regulations at that time, the youngest participants had to be 18 years old, and Petar was still 17. He was allowed to participate with a special permission from the competition.

The following year, 1968, he appeared again and again came fourth. Petar was among the youngest participants, and his competitors were far older and more experienced violinists. His performances made a strong impression, he was written about in the Italian press, he received congratulations from the members of the jury, among whom were Leonid Kogan, Yfrah Neaman, etc.

Playing with violinist Peter Deltchev – an otherworldly experience

As a soloist, he played with almost all the orchestras in Bulgaria, under the baton of remarkable Bulgarian conductors Dobrin Petkov, Konstantin Iliev, Vasil Kazandzhiev, Emil Chakarov, etc. Unfortunately, there are no recordings of these concerts in the Bulgarian National Radio.

Recordings of some of his early performances have been preserved, as well as the album "The Weeping Violin", produced in 2003 by the Bulgarian National Radio and recorded in the First Studio of BNR, together with pianist Mario Angelov. At that time, Petar Deltchev was living in Germany, and he arrived in Sofia especially for these recordings, which were the last ones made by him.

Violinist Petar Deltchev: I would like my performances to be played in Bulgaria

In 2004, due to illness, he had to give up the violin and his work in the Cologne Radio Orchestra.

In recent years, he lived in Italy with his family, suffering from serious illnesses. As his wife shared, he passed away quietly, surrounded by his closest people.

A tribute to his memory!

Text: Albena Bezovska
English publication: R. Petkova

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Petar Deltchev, the only Bulgarian violinist with two Paganini awards, has passed away at 75

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