FOR some strange reason the stage version of this celebrated musical traditionally portrays Captain von Trapp as such an icy individual that it’s hard to see why Maria ever gave him a second glance.

Apparently, the real-life person was the exact opposite to the obsessive disciplinarian who runs his home with military precision, makes his children march and drill every day, and only communicates with them via a bosun’s whistle.

It’s only a small point but it does make you wonder why such a sensitive and musically talented person should be turned at the stroke of a writer’s pen into a decidedly unattractive old ogre.

No matter. We’re here for the songs and, as everyone on the planet must know by now, they come thicker and faster than a blizzard sweeping in off the Austrian Alps.

This is the modern equivalent to Old Time Music Hall. Glancing round the auditorium, everyone seems to be swaying from side to side, mouthing the words to Maria, Climb Ev’ry Mountain, Edelweiss and Sixteen Going on Seventeen.

Oh yes, Rodgers and Hammerstein certainly knew a good tune when they saw one.

Lucy O’Byrne is simply divine as the Teutonic titwillow herself but even she is out-sung by Jan Hartley (Mother Abbess) who must have shattered half the glasses in the theatre bar with a voice that turned skipping octaves into an Alpine sport.

Meanwhile, Gray O’Brien as the dashing captain surely deserved a medal for managing to get through a demanding roster of numbers with style, despite being afflicted with a heavy cold.

Martin Connor’s direction seamlessly breathes new life into a story that may not be as old as those famous hills yet nevertheless makes them come alive once again.

Special mention should also be made of David Steadman’s steady hand on the musical tiller, which steers this magnificent show to its gloriously happy conclusion.

The Sound of Music runs until Saturday, February 6.