Cantabile was previously issued as Night Music 5, one in a series of relaxation albums from Naxos. Above-average performances make this compilation much better than aural wallpaper, and the selections are more imaginative than one usually finds on "chill-out" collections from the major labels. Yet even here are some overly familiar pieces, such as Vivaldi's Adagio molto from The Four Seasons -- "Autumn" and Schumann's "Träumerei" from Kinderszenen, and the space they occupy might have been filled with less standard fare. With that said, there are many worthwhile items to engage attention and possibly lead the listener to explore the works in full.
Capella Istropolitana presents a delightful reading of the Andante cantabile from Mozart's Symphony No. 41, and its performances of Handel's "La paix" from Fireworks Music and Bach's "Forlane" from the Orchestral Suite No. 1 are equally enjoyable. Also worth hearing are
Peter Nagy's warm performance of
Paderewski's Mélodie in G flat major and
Takako Nishizaki's fine playing of Paganini's Cantabile, with Ichiro Suzuki on guitar. Apart from its use as background music or as a sampler of the many interesting titles in the Naxos catalog, this disc may also be recommended as a good introduction to classical music for beginners.