THE action takes place in Sweden, 1902, but what sort of action might you expect from Sweden, 1902? Sweden before Abba, Borg and IKEA, The Killing, Wallander and all that Scandi-noir.

Well, there's that perennial stereotype of the Swedes and sex, and lots of it...and Stephen Sondheim's 1973 musical A Little Night Music does nothing to dispel that notion in its "tangled web of love, passion and endless possibilities". Not so much Side By Side By Sondheim – that wonderful revue – as bedside by bedside in a Sondheim.

In a sophisticated but Tabasco-saucy musical with tunes and lyrics by Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, the creative inspiration comes from Ingmar Bergman's film 1955 film Smiles Of A Summer Night, whose story of several couples' interlinked romantic lives it mirrors with typical Sondheim wit.

In Sweden, 1902, middle-aged lawyer Fredrik Egerman (Richard Bainbridge) and his hair-obsessed young wife, Anne (Eleanor Leaper) are yet to consummate their marriage, while Fredrik's son Henrik (a rather divine Matthew Ainsworth) is taking holy orders but is utterly smitten with his new stepmother.

When Fredrik's old flame, the elegant and bewitching actress Desirée Armfeldt (Michelle Todd), offers a weekend invitation to her grand and glamorous country estate (beautifully evoked in Norman Austick's designs), four couples gather and much web-tangling ensues amid partner swaps and pairings-off.

John Haigh's Count and Anna Mitchelson's Countess are very much part of the intrigues, as desire tips over into seduction in a romping costume drama where Mitchelson's ice-cold humorous candour is a particular joy and Moira Murphy does her Maggie Smith old-stick bit as the grande dame Madame Armfeldt.

Bainbridge, Todd and Haigh are all in fine vocal form, each contributing to the show's barbed humour too as Sondheim spins his bewitching tale with melodic grace, savvy wit and a delicious sense of Scandinavian desperation. Leaper's Anne marks this young actress's continuing blossoming on the York stage, and director/musical director Paul Laidlaw brings out out the best in his musical forces and acting resources alike.

Todd's version of Send In The Clowns is a high point too. Send in the crowds.

A Little Night Music, York Musical Theatre Company, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, 7.30pm tonight and tomorrow; 2.30pm, 7.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568.