# the best brick and mortar stores



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Where are the best classical music stores - actual, physical buildings with classical music that you can buy inside?

This can interest travelers. Barring too much bad luck, in a few years my wife and I are going to take off on a round-the-world trip, which means one of us is going to be searching for all the remaining little nook-and-cranny music shops of the world just in case I can find... ah, but I can't tell you, my friends, for I don't want you to buy it first!

So when a traveller of impeccable taste and other prestigious clichés visits your corner of the globe, where should she go to find the best classical music shops?

I'll start. I've lived in Seoul for over a decade, and here's the scene:

In Seoul, for recorded classical music and perhaps especially opera, the best store that I know of by far is Pungwoldang, in the very trendy neighborhood of Apgujeong (the trendiest part of Gangnam, which as a certain horsey-dancing song suggests is the trendiest part of Seoul, which as we all know is the trendiest part of East Asia, which is the trendiest part of the world, which is the center of the universe, so basically Pungwoldang is the trendiest little spot in the center of the universe). They're very solid on CPP music, and recently (encouraged in part by me and I'm willing to take full credit if necessary) they've been expanding their Renaissance and Modern era coverage as well. For people into rarities, they have a lot of recordings that were released in Japan but for some reason apparently not in the west. The staff is very helpful, and one of them speaks very good English. They have performances and lectures in Korean there on a regular basis. I work five minutes away, so they know me by face, name, and credit card number.

The second best place is Evan, in the basement of the Kyobo Tower. There are two Kyobo Towers: the one near Gangnam Station has a decent classical music corner. It's very heavy on the Beethoven-Brahms stuff, but it's also a good place to find Hyperion CDs. It also has the best classical on vinyl selection I've ever seen in Seoul, which is to say, literally dozens of records. But Evan in Kyobo Tower near Gwangwhamun is the real deal, almost as good as Pungwoldang. It is light on opera, but has the best early music and modern music sections in the city. There seems to be no special reason for a 20th-century composer's music to be put in the "modern" section rather than the regular sorted-by-composer. This is the other side of the city from me so I only get there 3-4 times a year, but I always walk out with an armload when I get there.

The next best is the store in the Seoul Art Center, just outside of the main concert hall. It's a tiny little disorganized place that's a big mess, I don't know if anyone's paid to put anything back in order so it seems like the customers are constantly rearranging things according to their own guesses about how things were supposed to be. It's a little heavy on Naxos, a little light on opera, but they have a very nice choral music selection, and a fairly impressive (for their size) collection of things like "horn music," "guitar music," "flute music," and so on. It's only about 1/4 the size of Pungwoldang, but you can never tell what you might find there. I usually find 1 or 2 things to buy when I'm there, almost never something I went in thinking I wanted, but then I see that so-and-so wrote bassoon concertos (so-and-so? bassoon concertos?) and that they happen to have volume 6 of what seems to be Naxos's indefinitely long series of so-and-so's complete bassoon concertos....

For used CDs there is no particularly good option, as far as I know. The best is in the Tony bookstore near Gangnam Station, a used bookstore that has a few shelves of used CDs, and some of them are classical. I guess it's the nature of the used CD market generally, but a lot of the "classical" is stuff that should be considered soundtracks or new age music, much of the rest is crossover stuff, the what remains tends to be performers you've never heard of on labels that probably don't actually exist playing music you already have twelve recordings of (Elizaveta Jones-Rács plays Chopin). Still, you can sometimes run into a decent deal there, particularly on recordings featuring famous Korean performers.

So, come to Seoul, buy some CDs.

When I come to your town, where should I shop?


----------



## SilverSurfer (Sep 13, 2014)

Hello, science, in Barcelona, to the only one left, with almost 120.000 records, many of them unique as it is not in the center but in Gràcia (so they keep a huge stock), where some guy and I live, BTW:

http://www.disco100.com


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

SilverSurfer said:


> Hello, science, in Barcelona, to the only one left, with almost 120.000 records, many of them unique as it is not in the center but in Gràcia (so they keep a huge stock), where some guy and I live, BTW:
> 
> http://www.disco100.com


I will definitely go there! Thank you!


----------



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Harold Moore's in London, if it's still going. I went there a few years ago and it was excellent. Lots of CDs of vintage pop and historical vocal, as well as the usual stuff. I can't physically go shopping for non-essentials these days because I have so many kids and they all have zero boredom threshold when shopping for anything that isn't toys or Xbox games, so my information may be a few years out of date.


----------



## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

Do these have to be stores with brand new discs - or will good 'preowned' outlets do ?


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

All of the classical stores here have closed. There are 2-3 used stores I know of that carry some classical, but it is _very_ hit and miss, as about 95% of the stock is Reader's Digest and Time-Life greatest classical sets. If you're looking for Mozart, you might get a few  but don't expect to find much else.


----------



## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I don't suggest you visit anywhere near me if bricks and mortar stores are what you are after.
Not sure there can be many shops in north of England worth a stop on a round the world trip.


----------



## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

science said:


> When I come to your town, where should I shop?


No place. There isn't a decent music store in the whole country.


----------



## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

La Bottega Discantica.
This is the only survived store in Milan for classical music only. Very good selection, a bit pricey. They also have their own label.
Their website is awful and not updated.

For opera La Scala Shop, at La Scala.

Just outside Milan Stradivarius, the CD store of the label.


----------



## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

None here in Salt Lake City. Barnes and Noble does special orders at least.


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

albertfallickwang said:


> None here in Salt Lake City. Barnes and Noble does special orders at least.


I had no idea you were in Salt Lake City. I'm a native of Wyoming myself. Been "out your way" half a dozen times. I was in Moab last spring.


----------



## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

A couple decent ones here in Helsinki, Finland, but nothing compared to big European cities, I'm sure. The best is *Fuga*, they sell new cd's and import a couple of labels as well. They're located in the nice, new *Helsinki Music Centre*. They are quite lovely people with a lot of knowledge and experience of classical music records. They also have a nice selection of SACD's. AND Sibelius busts!

For used records, visit *Digelius* and *Eronen* in Viisikulma, southern Helsinki (just take Fredrikinkatu street and head south). They also have used vinyls. I've found some wonderful, hard-to-find items in Digelius, dirt cheap too.


----------



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

GioCar said:


> La Bottega Discantica.
> This is the only survived store in Milan for classical music only. Very good selection, a bit pricey. They also have their own label.
> Their website is awful and not updated.
> 
> ...


Bottega Discantica sell on Amazon. I just got the complete Vanni-Marcoux from them, and I think there were a couple of others before. Excellent service.


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

GioCar said:


> La Bottega Discantica.
> This is the only survived store in Milan for classical music only. Very good selection, a bit pricey. They also have their own label.
> Their website is awful and not updated.
> 
> ...


I will see you at one of these places!



Xaltotun said:


> A couple decent ones here in Helsinki, Finland, but nothing compared to big European cities, I'm sure. The best is *Fuga*, they sell new cd's and import a couple of labels as well. They're located in the nice, new *Helsinki Music Centre*. They are quite lovely people with a lot of knowledge and experience of classical music records. They also have a nice selection of SACD's. AND Sibelius busts!
> 
> For used records, visit *Digelius* and *Eronen* in Viisikulma, southern Helsinki (just take Fredrikinkatu street and head south). They also have used vinyls. I've found some wonderful, hard-to-find items in Digelius, dirt cheap too.


Very nice! Thank you.


----------



## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

The big HMV store in Tokyo was a joy the last time I was there (Can't remember the address, Akihibara or Ginza perhaps?), first time I was there with some Japanese friends I got a severe overdraft on my credit cards! I think that I've seen big HMV's in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, but I've only seen the sign when I've changed planes on their airports (and shopped online from Hong Kong)..

Presto Classical has a shop that is well rounded in Leamington Spa, haven't been to Harold Moore's for many years but I think that their website still lists the same address as then (2 Great Marlborough Street).

Melomania in Paris is also well worth a visit, especially after having had a bout with any of the big FNAC's...

A good resource for finding (at least a second hand shop) in the area where You might be on vacation; Record Shops dot org

/ptr


----------



## pianississimo (Nov 24, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> Harold Moore's in London, if it's still going. I went there a few years ago and it was excellent. Lots of CDs of vintage pop and historical vocal, as well as the usual stuff. I can't physically go shopping for non-essentials these days because I have so many kids and they all have zero boredom threshold when shopping for anything that isn't toys or Xbox games, so my information may be a few years out of date.


It is still going and is also online http://www.hmrecords.co.uk/ It's a haven. A shop where you take out your earphones because they are always playing something interesting.
The shop has a massive stock, some very old and obscure recordings included.
Down in the basement they have a Jazz section and there they also sell second hand CDs and LPs very very cheap.

It's a stones throw from Oxford street. Look for Poland Street and turn right after the pub. Fantastic shop

My favourite of all is in Amsterdam. Broekmans & Van Poppel https://www.broekmans.com/NL/Bladmuziek/ is a very old shop which sells sheet music as well as recordings. upstairs they have a second hand sheet music shop which is like a treasure trove. I bought a beautiful copy of Prokofiev's childrens pieces which was produced in the Soviet Union in the 1960's and is hand illustrated. The price on the back is 50kopek. I bought it for 3 euros. Someone's teacher had written a translation of the titles of the pieces in pencil inside in English, so it had been around a bit. 
I had to leave my credit card at the hotel or I would be bankrupt!


----------



## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Couple of good ones:

Prelude in Norwich concentrate on classical music from most labels plus some Jazz and Folk.

Wells Camera Shop in Southwold has a back room with most of the Naxos catalogue plus some Jazz and Folk.

Nice thing is, it's a lovely part of the country - Norwich for city life and Southwold for a small town seaside feel. Unfortunately in Southwold they've a) stopped the horse drawn brewers drays and b) changed the sign which used to read Methodist Church Brewery. It's still a lovely town though.


----------



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Taggart said:


> Couple of good ones:
> 
> Presto in Norwich concentrate on classical music from most labels plus some Jazz and Folk.
> 
> ...


The trouble with Southwold is that you may run into Kirstie Allsop and other such titled grandees. (My hairdresser saw her there not long ago.) Norwich is better for keeping it real. What a shame Cromer recently lost its musical instruments shop, with its back room full of a random but quality selection of classical CDs. The best ever haul of several dozen Symposium CDs I ever found, at £1 each- almost worth a trip from Korea in itself!- was from a Thursday morning car boot sale in Overstrand. I believe the seller is there regularly, although I may have taken most of his quality stock! Norfolk absolutely rules!


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

*Copenhagen*: Danacord, Vognmagergade street + the Accord chain second-hand shops, 2 in/close to the city centre

*Rome*: Mondadori, Corso (FNAC closed down in 2013). There may be more.

*Prague*: a good shop on the square below the Nerudova street + Bontonland, near Vaclavske Namesti + 
a good deal of scattered antiquarians, often combining with books/paintings etc.

*Riga*: UPE, Vagnera street

*Lviv*: none

*Istanbul*: Istiklal street, of course. Some fine shops with intriguing Turkish music, a couple of them likewise with classical. Unfortunately, I don´t remember their names.


----------



## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

I think the last classical specialist shop in Sweden (Stockholm) closed its doors last year, we still have a few that specialize in Second hand vinyl, but more and more of their business is conducted through online auction sites...

/ptr


----------



## Guest (Jan 15, 2015)

Kivimees said:


> No place. There isn't a decent music store in the whole country.


Yeah, bricks are _so_ last century. Last time I went in one I was 200 miles from home. (Prelude in Norwich, Norfolk).
http://www.preluderecords.co.uk/prelude


----------



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

pianississimo said:


> It is still going and is also online http://www.hmrecords.co.uk/ It's a haven. A shop where you take out your earphones because they are always playing something interesting.
> The shop has a massive stock, some very old and obscure recordings included.
> Down in the basement they have a Jazz section and there they also sell second hand CDs and LPs very very cheap.
> 
> ...


I just registered on the Harold Moores site, and their online stock is very impressive! They have the Marston CD 'Mahler's Decade in Vienna' with some really good German singers of the day, which I couldn't find on Amazon. I may have to treat myself!


----------



## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

joen_cph said:


> ...
> 
> *Rome*: Mondadori, Corso (FNAC closed down in 2013). There may be more.
> 
> *....*


We have Mondadori in Milan as well, but it's not very good...Is the one in Rome a good store for CM?

Oh yes, I forgot to mention Feltrinelli in Milan. They acquired the music store of Ricordi many years ago. Ricordi (the publishing firm) used to have the largest CM store in Italy. My LP collection comes from my purchases I made there year after year in my 20s... Good old memories...
Now it's a good media store with a good but quite impersonal CM department. Their sheet music selection is still very good anyway.


----------



## SilverSurfer (Sep 13, 2014)

Just in case nobody from Germany appears, I know in *Frankfurt* the shop in the* Goethehaus* (CM), and have bought there on-line but not visited yet *a-musik* in *Köln* (mostly avantgarde and second hand, continuously updated):

http://www.a-musik.com/


----------



## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

Excellent thread idea - & since 'used' seems to be an acceptable term here...a couple more in London (better value than Harold Moores 'used' selection):

Gramex - just behind Waterloo Station
Classical Music Exchange - near Bayswater Tube

Perhaps 'against the spirit' to mention a charity shop, but Oxfam Music Store in Reading (think maybe it's their 'home' store so better stocked) is worth a visit. Took me nearly an hour early this month to browse through all the stock.


----------



## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

Xaltotun said:


> A couple decent ones here in Helsinki, Finland, but nothing compared to big European cities, I'm sure. The best is *Fuga*, they sell new cd's and import a couple of labels as well. They're located in the nice, new *Helsinki Music Centre*. They are quite lovely people with a lot of knowledge and experience of classical music records. They also have a nice selection of SACD's. AND Sibelius busts!
> 
> For used records, visit *Digelius* and *Eronen* in Viisikulma, southern Helsinki (just take Fredrikinkatu street and head south). They also have used vinyls. I've found some wonderful, hard-to-find items in Digelius, dirt cheap too.


I am from the north east of England but have visited Helsinki a number of times and have spent some very enjoyable hours in Digelius-I still have a John Scofield album with the Digelius price sticker on it to remind me of a splendid time my son and I had the day before getting the train out to visit the house of Sibelius.....one of the great days out and one of the great cities!


----------



## SilverSurfer (Sep 13, 2014)

Speaking of London, are "Music and video exchange" those 3 shops along the same street, around Nothing Hill gate, where they have lots of used Lps and Cds?
If so, there is where I bought an Lp the first days of our holidays in England and Scotland, and had to carry the Lp in my hands the rest of the days as we were not using a suitcase!
(Not to speak of an English and not catalogued Cd by Spanish Llorenç Barber, which made me buy a cheap Cd player in York to listen to it before coming back home).


----------



## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

*Carlisle* - England (just!) - Bookcase - its opposite the Cathedral (not far from the station) - they have a really good selection of new and (best of all) used CDs - there must be many thousabds there at any time - I often buy a yard at a time.

*Bruges* - Belgium - Rombaux at Mallebergplaats 13 in Bruges, Belgium (just off the main square) - a fantastic shop of mainly new CDs (though they occasionally prune the shelves and you can get some excellent discounts). Have a look at http://www.overgrownpath.com/2008/05/best-record-shop-in-world.html


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

GioCar said:


> We have Mondadori in Milan as well, but it's not very good...Is the one in Rome a good store for CM?
> 
> Oh yes, I forgot to mention Feltrinelli in Milan. They acquired the music store of Ricordi many years ago. Ricordi (the publishing firm) used to have the largest CM store in Italy. My LP collection comes from my purchases I made there year after year in my 20s... Good old memories...
> Now it's a good media store with a good but quite impersonal CM department. Their sheet music selection is still very good anyway.


It´s been quite a while since I was in Rome; I used that and FNAC. And oh yes, the name Feltrinelli does ring a bell too. Mondadori´s selection was not very big, as far as I remember, but they had some good offers. As said, there may be other shops, but at the time there didn´t seem to be any (I was there for two months).


----------



## SilverSurfer (Sep 13, 2014)

Headphone Hermit said:


> *Bruges* - Belgium - Rombaux at Mallebergplaats 13 in Bruges, Belgium (just off the main square) - a fantastic shop of mainly new CDs (though they occasionally prune the shelves and you can get some excellent discounts). Have a look at http://www.overgrownpath.com/2008/05/best-record-shop-in-world.html


¡What a wonderful shop! But a little late, I was in Brugge 3 years ago but didn't know nor found it by chance...


----------



## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

+1 for Gramex in London. I was there a couple of years ago on a limited budget and came away very pleased. The guy who owns it is a very nice chap, had a long conversation with him (not about music) while browsing.

As for Ireland, the only decent place in the country - on the whole island, actually - is Tower Records in Dublin (yes, I know Tower Records as a whole is defunct, but this one's still going for some reason). Not cheap, but they do make the effort to get a proper selection of new releases.


----------



## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Here in Vancouver we have Sikoras Records. They have an impressive selection of new and used classical, and jazz. At the front there is the new releases section. They also have shelves of box sets. A few shelves of opera DVDs. And they sell used CDs and vinyl. I think you'd all be impressed and jealous. This shop seems out of place in the cultural waste land that is Vancouver. I've been shopping there for years. I walk in and everybody knows my name, some of the sales people great me by name. 

Last summer I was in the UK. I visited Blackwells in Oxford and Harold Moore's in London. I bought a CD in each, though I was travelling light and couldn't afford the space to buy lots. I also went into HMV on Oxford Street London. Plenty there too.


----------



## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I miss Tower Records, HMV, and Virgin Megastores.

http://www.talkclassical.com/35486-share-your-memories-tower.html


----------



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

senza sordino said:


> Here in Vancouver we have Sikoras Records. They have an impressive selection of new and used classical, and jazz. At the front there is the new releases section. They also have shelves of box sets. A few shelves of opera DVDs. And they sell used CDs and vinyl. I think you'd all be impressed and jealous. This shop seems out of place in the cultural waste land that is Vancouver. I've been shopping there for years. I walk in and everybody knows my name, some of the sales people great me by name.
> 
> Last summer I was in the UK. I visited Blackwells in Oxford and Harold Moore's in London. I bought a CD in each, though I was travelling light and couldn't afford the space to buy lots. I also went into HMV on Oxford Street London. Plenty there too.


Blackwell's Music used to be an Aladdin's cave on Holywell St staffed by the most knowledgeable people imaginable, but when it moved to Broad St it became small, bland and corporate, and staffed by sullen teenagers. No thanks, especially as it's not cheap. And the thing is, Blackwell's' crapification preceded the rise of Amazon by a few years, as did the demise of the excellent Russell Acott, and most of Oxford's used bookstores. I don't know how representative Oxford is- it's always been a strange place- but internet shopping has been the solution to the problem, not the cause of it.

Glad you found something worth buying in Blackwell's though.


----------



## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

senza sordino said:


> Here in Vancouver we have Sikoras Records. They have an impressive selection of new and used classical, and jazz. At the front there is the new releases section. They also have shelves of box sets. A few shelves of opera DVDs. And they sell used CDs and vinyl. I think you'd all be impressed and jealous. This shop seems out of place in the cultural waste land that is Vancouver. I've been shopping there for years. I walk in and everybody knows my name, some of the sales people great me by name.


I've been to Sikoras and it's indeed a gem. Highly recommended. :clap:


----------



## pianississimo (Nov 24, 2014)

Another one I like is McAlister Matheson in Edinburgh. Very friendly staff and a good selection. It's near Usher Hall. http://www.mmmusic.co.uk and I usually call in when I'm up there for concerts.


----------



## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Here in Los Angeles we have a really good selection of brick and mortars to choose from.

I'll start off with the largest and most complete, Amoeba Records. This is a HUGE warehouse sized store in Hollywood.

In the main front room, there is a huge rock vinyl section, a huge new rock CD section, almost as large used rock CD section, special section for 'underground metal', folk of all types, world music from everywhere, electronica and a few more.

In the back room is a very large classical CD section with new and used, a very large classical vinyl section, jazz section (used new, CD and vinyl), blues, comedy.

I tend to shop there for classical CDs, avant-garde and contemporary classical, prog rock and metal CDs, jazz and fusion.

They also have a large new and used video section on the second floor.

http://www.amoeba.com/our-stores/

Fairly close is to Amoeba is Counterpioint Records and Books. They have a large classical vinyl section. Another great location for finding out of print records that never made it to CD.

http://www.counterpointla.com/

The Record Collector on Melrose is strictly classical and jazz vinyl. The owner, a bit of a lovable curmudgeon, was a classical violinist (I believe he used to play with the LA phil and for the movie studios), and hates the sound of digital.

This is _the_ place to find hard to find, collectible and special performances. His prices are a bit on the high side, but the selection is nuts. Over 500,000 is claimed.

His filing system is a bit cryptic, so he prefers you go in with a list.

I've found several hard to find, mid 20th century avant-garde classical records that are out of print there.

http://www.therecordcollector.net/Intro.htm

Freak Beat records is another very good store. They specialize in rock, but still have a respectable classical section.

They are the place to go when looking for a somewhat rare Italian prog-rock album or out of print ECM jazz. Nice and knowledgeable owners.

http://freakbeatrecords.com/

Atomic Records specialized in rock vinyl, but their jazz vinyl is also impressive. Small classical section. Not a lot of CDs.

http://www.atomicrecordsla.com/Home.html

On the west side there is Record Surplus in Santa Monics. Another large store with a great vinyl section and decent CD section.

http://recordsurplusla.com/

There are more stores, but these are the ones where I shop regularly.


----------

