La bohème comes close to being a fail-safe opera. Puccini has done most of the heavy lifting upfront, and as long as a director doesn't go mucking things up (say, by transposing the frigid garret of bohemian Paris to a sweltering underpass in Abu Dhabi), audiences will reliably fall in love with the piece. Falling in love is easy, to be sure. The challenge in a relationship arrives later, and although the path of true love proves full of potholes for the opera's two pairs of flummoxed lovers — the poet Rodolfo and the seamstress Mimì, the painter Marcello and the coquette Musetta — only a hard heart would wish anything but bliss for them.

On Saturday night, Santa Fe Opera revived the solid staging of La bohème created by Paul Curran in 2007. He directs with deferential respect in this conservative, entirely honorable production, and the opera responds by exerting its legitimate claim on the audience's sympathies and drawing dependable tears at its tragic conclusion. The libretto sets four vignettes of bohemian life as separate acts, but here the acts are grouped in pairs, an unusual approach that commendably reduces the running time by the eliminating two intermissions. The halves mirror one another in pleasant equipoise: a scene in the artists' garret, then an outdoor street scene — and in the second half, the opposite. Many of the tableaux could have graced the stage a century ago, and why should a production need to do otherwise? The sets and costumes (by Kevin Knight) portray a Paris shorn of glamour apart from Musetta's tenuous link to the beau monde, but the street outside the Café Momus nonetheless overflows with the merriment of the masses.

Soprano Ana María Martínez proved an affecting Mimì, projecting a rich, resonant, well-centered tone with a rosy bloom. Santa Fe audiences will remember her portrayals of Rossini and Mozart heroines in past seasons (Fiordiligi in 2003, Donna Elvira in 2004, Rosina in 2005), but her singing has ascended to a higher plateau in the years since, with the happy result that this production is anchored by a figure of international vocal stature. The stage direction in Act One could use some refining to make her seduction of Rodolfo less loopy and more in line with someone who has just fainted on the staircase, exhausted by climbing to the poet’s attic loft; but please let nothing touch her heartrending rendition of “Donde lieta uscì” in Act Three, truly a lump-in-throat achievement.

The part of Rodolfo introduced debut artist David Lomelí, a Mexico City native who is just emerging as a noteworthy presence in the circle of tenors. He possesses a remarkably sweet tone, if not usually a very large one; nonetheless, he seemed comfortable when he let loose, as in a petulant passage early in Act Three. I would imagine that Donizetti would provide his most effective repertoire at this point, but he was an engaging Rodolfo here, conveying with considerable delight the unlikelihood of finding himself the romantic target of a certifiable "babe," even if she is suffering from incurable consumption.

Soprano Heidi Stober interpreted brash Musetta with robust security, and to her is entrusted the responsibility to sing while standing atop the furniture, a cliché that nearly all opera directors seem obliged to inject at some point (here it's in Act Two). Rodolfo's bohemian buddies shared his tendency toward rather light singing, possibly reflecting the vocal challenges posed by the acerbic air pollution resulting from the current wildfires. In an interview prior to the premiere, Lomelí stated that Marcello is viewed as the "alpha male" in this coterie, but Corey McKern's pleasantly sung portrayal seemed less lusty than I recall from when he appeared in the production's inauguration four years ago: more delta or epsilon than alpha. Baritone Keith Phares conveyed the musician Schaunard with dapper magnetism — a delightful counterweight to his friends' tendency to self-imposed gloom — and bass Christian Van Horn (as the philosopher Colline) rose to the occasion in his aria "Vecchia zimarra."

The singers seemed comfortable in their expanses of ensemble work, but the orchestra was less so. One would scarcely have guessed that this was the same ensemble that had played with such enthusiasm and carefully shaded tone on opening night. Conductor Leonardo Vordoni allowed (or perhaps inspired) a general vagueness of orchestral phrasing and a plethora of ragged attacks and releases, which one trusts will be tightened as the opera continues in its run. Nonetheless, this production of La bohème stands on firm ground.

The Santa Fe Opera's 2011 season production of La bohème continues with performances on July 8, 13, 22; Aug. 2, 6, 10, 13, 16, 23, & 26. For ticket information, call the box office at 505-986-5900.