I just have to give a plug for this CD now that it's out. Really great. Unlike Sergiu's first solo recording, in which the focus was on heavy-duty gypsy instrumentals, this one is more varied, and is full of songs from all over Eastern Europe and the Middle East featuring some great singers from Bulgaria, Turkey and even a Moroccan Sephardic Jewish cantor. The virtuosic accordion playing (and percussion) is still there, but Sergiu allows the singers to take most of the limelight.
My kids (daughter, 10 and son, 12) took to this record instantly, in fact they made off with the CD and I didn't see it for a week, by which time they seemed to have learned all the lyrics without understanding any of them.
You can listen to bits (and order the CD) at
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sergiupopa3No duds among the songs, but my favourites at the moment are tracks 6 (the Sephardic love trilogy) and 5 (fiddle played by Sergiu's wife, who 20 years ago was an Irish fiddle student of mine!). The kids' favourites are 3 and 9 (a remix of track 4).