Berliner’s Cornucopia

Great little shop with quality games and music!

I love this little shop of fantastic music! Leon has been helping to educate us and expand our music library for years. We have left this shop with some wonderful treasures and gems! The recordings are top notch. We have brought home a wonderful box cribbage board. We love the annual Beethoven birthday party with cake and champagne. Make sure you sign up to get your Beethoven Bucks! But most importantly, make conversation with Leon: such wit, charm and humour are gifts within themselves.

I came into Berliner’s this spring on a mission that had nothing to do with classical music — my boyfriend and I were searching for a chess set. Not necessarily a gorgeous one, just a set we could play on. Finding nothing in Arcata, we drove to Eureka and looked around. Someone at one of the galleries (where they did have chess sets, carved of marble and costing hundreds) pointed us toward Berliner’s.
Leon was talking to two friends when we entered, so we simply started looking around; he then went out of his way to greet us, offer us some white wine, introduce us to his friends, and give us information on the chess sets. He opened the one I was looking at so I could look at the pieces, even though it was in a shrinkwrapped box.
The store is such a little gem that it’s hard to resist looking around the place, even if you came in not knowing what was there. There are CDs all over the place with helpful, handwritten signs (in calligraphy!) telling you which section you’re in. Though it is, of course, largely classical music, there’s also folk, Celtic, traditional chants, Broadway musical soundtracks, featured music by local musicians, and some DVDs. I wanted to buy MUCH more than a chess set, but could only really afford to throw in one CD, so I asked Leon to recommend some Satie. He showed me two CDs that I could choose between, while telling me about Satie’s nickname, the Velvet Gentleman.
Leon is a true character and is a great guy to talk to. I am SO glad this business exists. For a great date, go there and then enjoy some chocolate from the chocolatier next door while sitting near the gazebo just outside.

Record stores in Humboldt County seem to serve reggae, indie, metal, hippie-​folk and jazz fans pretty well, but lovers of classical music get little love — except at Berliner’s. This would be a great little record shop in San Francisco or Seattle, but in Eureka it’s solid gold. I’m an early music fan and even in high-​end stores in the Bay Area often don’t have much for me, but at Berliner’s I can almost always find something of interest. It reminds me a lot of The Musical Offering n Berkeley (
) — a warm and inviting place with an eclectic selection, good for browsing. The owner is very welcoming and knowledgeable and will order anything he doesn’t have in stock. Limited but interesting selection of jazz and «world music» too, and a variety of old-​school board game sets — chess, backgammon, go, and more. Stop by on an Arts Alive saturday and get a glass of champagne (or apple juice) and some cookies, and ask Leon for some recommendations.
If you’re looking for a recording of classical, baroque, or early music, skip Amazon and stop by Berliner’s first, and if you pledge money to Jefferson Public Radio for their wonderful classical programming ought to show the same public spirit by buying a cd at Berliner’s every so often and support this great and underappreciated local gem.

Once every now and then, small towns have great blessings bestowed upon them.
In this case the blessing resides with a gentleman named Leon, who happens to own the little music shop now located behind the Gazebo in Old Town Eureka. Leon earns the appellation of «gentleman» for a reason– each time I’ve walked into his store I’ve been greeted with courtesy from behind the counter by a voice barely discernible above the dynamic strains of whatever opera happened to be playing at the moment. Eventually Leon emerges from behind his perch and asks if I would like something to drink while I browse the store– either apple juice or champagne, depending on how old he deems me to be at that moment. You never know how oddly dignified you feel wandering around a classical music store carrying a glass filled with *ahem* apple juice until you’ve tried it. Yet, somehow it’s enough to do the trick even when you wander in serendipitously, sporting running shorts and an old t-​shirt leftover from high-​school. Leon doesn’t care either– he’s more interested in educating you about the piece sounding from the speakers, or on the volume you happened to pick up casually. The entire store is papered with clippings and excerpts from reviews on particular concertos and arias taped neatly to albums that he deemed worth a second glance. Ask about something from a particular time period, or from a specific country, and he’ll scoot over to the rack and start plucking away. Before you know it you’ll probably have a small stack of disks to balance in the non-​champagne bearing hand.
I’ve heard it said that food is often tastier when stolen off the plate of one’s friend or lover. Just the same, I sometimes get the feeling that the wonderful music in Leon’s shop sounds much better on his speakers– somehow more passionate, or maybe just warmer. For that matter, I’m not sure who has the better advantage, Berliner’s now being located next door to the local chocolate shop. On one hand, you get to wander out toting hours’ worth of music literally hand-​picked for you, straight into a seductive cloud of chocolate fumes. On the other hand, the chocolatiers get to be treated to the equally delicious sounds coming from next door and, once a year at least, maybe a piece of cake with Beethoven’s frosted face on top.