Almost 35 years on, this production of La Bohème is working as well as ever. The Royal Opera seems happy to keep reviving it and there is little evidence of revivals looking tired or tatty, which is just as well if the credit crunch means there will not be any money to pay for another soon.

The present policy of short runs of performances is working on a mix-and-match basis, keeping some singers who know the production well and introducing a few others for novelty each time. The result is like hitting the 'Refresh' button on a computer screen, loading a couple of new faces on to an existing web page.

The best reason for seeing this revival is the fresh and youthful Rodolfo of South Korean tenor Wookyung Kim. He sings with a vocal beauty that we associate with the term "bel canto", never forcing his voice and phrasing with a lyrical ease that is always a pleasure. The top C in "Che gelida manina" did not go well for him, at least on Tuesday, but he floated Rodolfo's line "alla stagion dei fior" at the end of Act 3 beautifully, as Pavarotti does on his recording (though not when he had his turn in this production in 1976).

As Mimì, Greek soprano Alexia Voulgaridou was always interesting but rarely lovable. The early scenes in which she explores a friendship with Rodolfo were sensitively done, touching upon all kinds of insecurities and even some humour. Later, she stripped away the sentimentality to make poor Mimi's demise a scene of painful realism - yet the voice is too monochrome and hard for us to sympathise with her fully.

Among their fellow Bohemians, Christopher Maltman has joined the clan as a self-confident Marcello, though he sometimes pushed his voice for extra volume. Anna Leese is again the hard-bitten Musetta, Roderick Williams the lively Schaunard and Alexander Vinogradov a Colline of gravelly Russian bass tone, with Adrian Clarke adding a nicely-judged cameo as Alcindoro. The conductor, Christian Badea, and the Royal Opera orchestra performed as if it had every detail of Puccini's music at its fingertips, which is just as well if this production is to keep coming round as often as it has.

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