Make no mistake about it, Hong Kong is the best place in the world to buy classical CDs. In terms of range and price, there's no beating the former Crown Colony. Here are the CD shops I visited in my last trip, and a sample of CDs bought. Shop till you drop...
For the classical aficionado, Shun Cheong Recordsat 8th floor Bank Centre, 636 Nathan Road
at Mongkok is the place to be!
CDs bought:
Klavier Festival Ruhr 2009 (5 CDs)
at HK$ 550 (members get 10% off)
at HK$ 550 (members get 10% off)
Win Win Shop at Tung Choi Streetis the best of the small CD shops at Ladies Market.
CDs bought:
Martha Argerich & Friends 2009
(3CDs, EMI Classics) at HK$138.
Volodos in Vienna (2CDs, Sony Classical) at HK$108
CD Warehouse, Langham Place at Mongkok.Take a series of escalators to the very top floor.
CDs bought:
Van Cliburn in Moscow
(5CDs, Melodiya) at HK$485
Nathan Milstein Aristocrat of the Violin
Nathan Milstein Aristocrat of the Violin
(8CDs, EMI Classics Icon) at HK$279
Classical & Jazz section of CD Warehouse.
Percival Records, 35 Wing Kut Streetin Central district, Hong Kong island.
Small is good here!
CDs bought:
Prokofiev Operas by Mariinsky Opera / Valery Gergiev
(14CDs, Decca) at HK$532
Charles Ives Orchestra Sets (Naxos) at HK$45
If all else fails, there's always HMV,the biggest store is on Hankow Road in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Always some mainstream CDs at bargain price.
CDs bought:
Mahler Symphony No.8 (Pentatone)
Schonbrunn Concert (Deutsche Grammophon)
2CDs at HK$ 189
Hong Kong's version of Sim Lim Square,Golden Centre at Sham Shui Po.
Aim Video at Golden Centre, positively the best placeto buy made-for-China-market classical DVDs.
DVDs bought:
Itzhak Perlman Virtuoso Violinist (2DVDs) at HK$40
The Red Baton / Rozhdestvensky at HK$20
Van Cliburn A portrait at HK$20
3 comments:
Great post. Will keep this list for my next HK trip.
I only visited the HMV during my last HK trip. The exchange rate wasn't in favor of SGD. The price around the same as in Singapore.
Tow Liang, You know more about CD and DVD shops in Hong Kong than I do (and I've lived there for 15 years!) Enjoyed your blog tremendously, and will be revisiting often. When you come to HK next time, let's go shopping together?
Tony Hung (tonyhung@hkbu.edu.hk)
In Hong Kong, it's not the price, it's the sheer choice of titles. Try Hong Kong records too, say the Pacific Place outlet.
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