La Bohème, Opera North review – veteran production still holds up well

In a bid to attract the floating voter, the poster for Opera North's revival of La Bohème bears the strapline: "If you only see one musical this year, make it this opera." Yet for all the enduring accessibility of this 21-year-old production, director Phyllida Lloyd's main point of reference is not the musical stage so much as the silver screen.

"Puccini would have been a marvellous composer in Hollywood," Lloyd states in her programme note, and Anthony Ward's designs are framed within a white rectangle as if the entire action has been printed on celluloid. The backdrop to Cafe Momus features a giant screen kiss; there's even an allusion to Marilyn Monroe's ventilator moment from The Seven Year Itch as Gavan Ring's Schaunard clowns around in a blonde wig and pleated skirt.

It may be getting a little long in the tooth, but under Michael Barker-Caven's directorial supervision the production remains a fine showcase for young singers. Sébastien Guèze's fresh-faced Rodolpho seems barely old enough to have been born when the production was new, and though his tone becomes coarse at times, he is lithe and likable as the penurious poet. The Romanian soprano Gabriela Istoc has a fast, fluttering vibrato, first heard when she previewed her Mimì in Opera North's anthology of extracts, From Paris With Love , earlier this season. It is a good deal more satisfying given complete.

Phillip Rhodes plays a virile Marcello who obsessively produces Warholian screen prints of Lorna James's flighty, seductively sung Musetta; Jimmy Holliday's Colline exudes pathos when consigning his overcoat to the pawnbroker. Andreas Delfs's conducting is supple and sensitively scaled to match the size of the voices.

Yet for all the high spirits of the opening act – and the brilliant, spinning banquettes of the Momus scene – the lasting impact of Lloyd's production is made in the raw, anti-romantic hangover of the second half, as if the reel has abruptly been switched from Hollywood fantasy to the unflinching realism of Truffaut or Godard. Though Opera North's long-standing audience might reasonably be hoping for a new Bohème soon, Lloyd's venerable production still stands as the ideal introduction for newcomers. If you only see one film this year, make it this musical.