Hungaroton's fine series of recordings by Hungary's leading gypsy music ensembles often are a bit elliptical on the cover, giving the buyer little idea of what's inside. This Violin Wonder, for example, is not much more violin-oriented than other similar releases, and the billing of "Hungarian Songs, Csárdáses" is problematical in that there is no vocal music at all, and only a minority of csárdás. The picture of the musicians on the cover doesn't include a player of the cimbalom, which has numerous solo passages and is critical to the shimmering, loosely layered sound of the ensemble. But don't let any of this stop you. This is a wonderful program of short pieces, presented mostly without pause, medley-style. The "songs" (with such curious-in-translation titles as "My mother, the head scarf") are discrete melodies, presented as rapid-fire reminiscences. They are interspersed with slow pieces in a distinctive, breathing free rhythm and with dances of various kinds, including the csárdás, the again oddly named "Fresh," a waltz, and various other instrumentally conceived pieces. Not so typical, but entirely magical, is the Tango on the Street, track 27, with its extended violin-cimbalom introduction. The counterparts to the slow pieces are a few that start very fast and then get impossibly faster; hear the Quick Csárdás, track 1. The textures are invariably complex and absorbing, and the music in general occupies a space between folk and classical unlike that found in any other culture. It's also gorgeous and richly sensual. Highly recommended.