GRAMEX: MY FAVOURITE CD SHOP IN LONDON (POSSIBLY THE WORLD)

With the Compact Disc being gradually replaced by downloadable digital media, the traditional bricks and mortar CD shop is dying a sure and lingering death (for collectors, that is). That explains why there are no decent CD shops for classical music in Singapore. The once great HMV has become reduced to a pitiful half a shelf stocking things by Il Divo, Susan Boyle and André Rieu (yecch!). Even London's HMV in Oxford Street has become a pale shadow of itself.

...which is why a shop like GRAMEX is heaven-sent for collectors of classical CDs. In existence in London for over a century, it is purportedly the oldest surviving independent record shop in the world. Gramex deals mostly with second hand CDs, many obtained from collections, but there are some new CDs still in their shrink package, but half of the usual retail price.

Gramex is located at 104 Lower Marsh, just behind Waterloo Railway Station, and has been there for almost the last half-century, although the shop space has moved occasionally within the same street. It is owned by septuagenarian Roger Hewland (below, seated in his Director's chair), who has been its custodian since 1980. According to him, he had sold over 2 million recordings (LPs and CDs) over the last 34 years! 

I first stumbled upon this Aladdin's cave of musical treasures in 2002, when idling around the South Bank in between sessions of the London International Piano Competition (a proud institution now sadly retired). What a wealth of recordings it had, including many deleted items price from 1-8 pounds a piece. This is since been a must-visit place for me during every trip to London. 

One needs to spend at least an hour or two to rummage through the piles of CD spread over many tables and shelves. The items are arranged in no particular order, which makes the discovery of certain items a pleasant surprise, especially when you thought that item had been deleted a long while ago, and had given up hope of ever finding it! Prices range from 4-8 pounds per disc these days, but it is still a bargain.

Mr Hewland makes you welcome at every opportunity, even if you do not intend to buy (which is never the case here). He offers you coffee or tea, as you make life-changing decisions of adding to your own collection. Credit cards are accepted, and then he gives you a whopping 15-20% discount on all your purchases. All CDs are guaranteed for 2 years, and you can return if not satisfied!

Imagine how it made my day when I got the London Symphony Orchestra set of Mahler's symphonies conducted by Valery Gergiev at just 24 pounds!

Update: GRAMEX has now gone underground! The shop is in the same building (104 Lower Marsh) but occupying the basement of the newly-moved Book Warehouse (previously on the corner of Baylis and Waterloo Road). Usually the basements of budget bookstores are the repositories of XXX merchandise and sex-toys, but this one is special: two wonderful shops on the site of one.

Here is the new website: www.gramex.co.uk 

Enough of photos of Gramex, and below are some photos of Lower Marsh. It used to be a grotty area, but has since been gentrified. There are outlets selling street food (Thai and Cuban among them) and it looks like a pretty Bohemian place to be! 

Coming out from the side-exit of Waterloo Station,
and down Spur Steet, one reaches Lower Marsh. 

A panorama of Lower Marsh.
Your few houes will be well spent here.

PANORAMAS from LONDON

A classical view of the City of London,
from the south bank of the Thames.

Its the June vacations, a good break from school and homework for my son, and so we took a week-long holiday to London, once the greatest city in the world. Its still great in many respects, especially its rich history and concert life, but this holiday was about sightseeing. On our last trip here in 2005, my son was too young to remember anything except the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, so this time we were determined to see much more. 

The view of St Paul's Cathedral and Millennium Bridge
from the upper gallery of Tate Modern.

A great view of London from the top gallery
of St Paul's Cathedral, looking southwest.

A view of the Barbican and financial district of London,
looking northeast from St Paul's.

A view of the Thames, looking southeast.

Tower Bridge and the Shard, from the Tower of London.

The formidable Tower of London.

Peaceful Tower Green, where most of the
private executions took place.

Trafalgar Square, with the church of St Martin
in the Fields (extreme left) and Nelson's Column (right).

Street buskers doing their thing in Covent Garden,
just in front of St Paul's (Actors') Church.

At the Tate Modern: Cy Twombly's twirls.

Vietnam, an indictment of war at Tate Modern.

The Cast Court at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

MORE PANORAMAS from LONDON and ENGLAND

The Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum.
Greece wants them back, but the Brits are not budging.
Given the Greek economy, tis probably better to stay put.

Here are more panoramas from our short holiday to London. Besides the usual sightseeing, there was enough time to see a little bit of the country and visit old friends in Essex.

More marbles at the British Museum.

Not everything is there, but one gets the idea.

The Great Hall in the Tudor wing of
Hampton Court Palace.

Beautiful gardens outside the Georgian wing
of Hampton Court Palace.

The "Secret Garden".

Rapeseed fields in Essex.

Little country town of Hatfield Heath, Essex.

A most British of institutions,
a vintage car show at Hatfield Heath.

The green of Matching Green.
This little hamlet was home to painter Augustus John
and oilman/athlete/pianist Neil Franks Esq. 

The lovely 15th century home Lascelles, Matching Green,
now on sale at around GBP 2.5 million.
That's cheap by Singapore standards.

London's Greatest Little Concert Hall: WIGMORE HALL

I just love Wigmore Hall. For me, it is London's greatest little concert hall, if not London's best concert hall of all. One could spend an entire season just attending concerts here, without missing the glitz and glamour of London's bigger venues. Formerly known as Bechstein Hall, it was built in 1901 and is roughly the same age as Singapore's Victoria Concert Hall. The 545-seater hall on Wigmore Street (just off Oxford Street) is best known for its piano recitals, song recitals and chamber concerts.

This short trip to London only allowed one evening to attend concerts, and Wigmore Hall was where I chose to go. Luckily for me, I was able to attend two recitals on Friday 14 June 2013. The first was a solo piano recital by Irish pianist Finghin Collins, followed by a tribute to Dame Myra Hess's legacy of wartime lunchtime concerts at the National Gallery, presented by Patricia Routledge and pianist Piers Lane. Needless to say, it was a memorable night out on the town.

The facade on Wigmore Street.

   

One of London's most recognisable icons.

The hall and its famous performing stage.

"The Soul of Music"
has become the symbol of Wigmore Hall.

Wigmore Hall's Steinway.

Photographs of luminaries at the Green Room,
including Edwin Fischer, Daniel Barenboim,
Sir Clifford Curzon, Louis Kentner and Julis Katchen.

More photographs and big names.
On the left is the portraits of long-time director Sir William Lyne.
Scriabin performed here in 1915.

Not just Keeping Up Appearances:
Pianomaniac meets Patricia Rouledge,
aka Hyancinth Bucket (pronounced "Bouquet")

Piers Lane has made many CDs
which have pleased me no end.