Otaru in Hokkaidō, Japan is the real-life counterpart to Canalave. It is situated in Hokkaidō where Canalave is in Sinnoh. The canal in Canalave was inspired by the canal in Otaru that is a tourist attraction. I was there a few years back. It had a chill, laid-back atmosphere, good food, nice local beer. You should visit it.
I recall days in years gone by where I'd boot up Diamond, find myself in Canalave, and just... never leave. Might be my favorite song from the Pokemon series purely for listening to, and with the incredible music available in other games, that's saying something.
Loving the attention to detail in the instruments, it sounds like it could be the old "reorchestrated" versions of themes, coming from actual instruments in a hall. The strings are what get me the most, maybe a bit too clean to feel like a live orchestra, but it sounds like real instruments and how they'd be played. The articulations, namely the more accented and staccato notes when they change notes, for the parts around 0:50 for example, are a really nice touch.
