Satya Kinkar Bandyopadhyay was the last complete master of the Vishnupur Gharana, being a master of Dhrupad, Khyal, Tappa, Surbahar, Sitar and Esraj. After him no other musician covered all these traditions of the Vishnupur Gharana: there were singers of Khyal like his son Amiya Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, Surbahar & Sitar players like Manilal Nag or Esraj players like the great Ashesh Bandyopadhyay and his outstanding disciple Ranadhir Roy.
In recent years Bihaan Music in Kolkata released three CDs by Satya Kinkar Bandyopadhyay, which cover the whole spectrum of his art. See below for details.
About the Vishnupur (Bishnupur) Gharana:
Satya Kinkar Bandopadhyay (Vocal) - The Maestro of Bishnupur Gharana: Raga
Imaan (28:23) & Raga Bageshree (20:08 & 10:21), BIHAAN, BMC-75
„Satya Kinkar Bandopadhyay (1899 - 1980), maestro of the Bishnupur Gharana,
was born in Bishnupur of Bankura District. Disciple of the legendary musician
Gopeshwar Bandyopadhyay, he was a talent both in vocal and instrumental music.
He came to reside in Kolkata permanently from the year 1921. He was an A Grade
artist of Akashbani from the beginning and was attached to it till 1962. In the
year 1978 he was garlanded by the Rajya Sangeet Academy award. He worked as an
examiner of both Rabindra Bharati and Biswabharati Universites. His performance
in Dhrupad, Kheyal and Thumri in Kolkata and also throughout the country was
well marked by the listeners. He was also awarded the ITC SRA award. He is the
author of a number of books related to hindusthani classical music."
Satyakinkar Bandopadhyay (1899-1980) (Vocal) & Gopeswar Bandopadhyay
(1880-1963) (Vocal) – Durbari Vishnupur, Set of 2 CDs, CD 1: Gopeswar
Bandopadhyay: Raga Behag: Kheyal – Hindi (2:33), Raga Behag: Kheyal – Bangla
(3:04), Satyakinkar Bandopadhyay: Raga Bihag: Kheyal – Hindi (17:43), Raga
Darbari: Kheyal – Bangla (13:53) & Raga Darbari: Drut Kheyal – Bangla
(13:32), Raga Manjh Khamaj: Bhajan – Bangla (14:38), CD 2: Satyakinkar
Bandopadhyay: Raga Darbari Kanara (Live from Vrindavan, 1980. Pakhawaj: Rajib
Lochan De): Alap, Chautal, Dhamar, Surfaktal (55:08), Sindhu Tappa (4:01), Raga
Jhinjhit Khamaj: Tappa Bhajan (9:37), Raga Bhairavi: Bhajan (7:08), BIHAAN MUSIC
– Heritage Series, BMC-213
Satyakinkar Bandopadhyay and his uncle Gopeswar Bandopadhyay were very
respected masters of the Vishnupur Gharana, experts in Dhrupad, Dhamar, Khyal,
Tappa, Sitar & Esraj. They were true Durbari musicians, that means court
musicians that were not required to sing to please the masses. Their singing
style was only for the cognoscente. Especially interesting is the long Dhrupad
in Gauharbani style on the 2nd CD, but also the Khyals in Behag and Darbari on
the 1st CD. Excellent.
Satyakinkar Bandopadhyay (1899-1980) (Vocal, Esraj & Sitar) - The Royal
Archive: Tappa (10:02), Tappa (4:08), Esraj (6:55), Sitar (37:57), BIHAAN -
HERITAGE SERIES, BMC-127
Like most of the older representatives of Vishnupur Gharana, the legendary
singer was at the same time an excellent instrumentalist. Especially the piece
on Sitar is very interesting and illustrates an old sitar style, especially in
the long alap. Excellent.
