The Sound of Music, national tour presented by Boch Center at Wang Theatre,Boston, through May 13. www.bochcenter.org or 844-753-8364

Rodgers and Hammerstein II did something good for their last collaboration-the very hummable score of the 1959 Broadway musical "The Sound of Music." While the hit show won the 1960 best musical Tony, their great score remains far more compelling than the tame book with its historically inaccurate description of Austria's response to Nazism and the 1938 Third Reich Anschluss.

Co-authors Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse have half of Austria not speaking to the other half, though almost all Austrians-except Communists, gypsies and of course Jews- actually welcomed the Germans into their homeland without hesitation (a welcome that is well-documented by photos).

Director Matt Lenz, following in original revival director Jack O'Brien's footsteps, has made Austrian sympathies clear by providing five side by side long Nazi banners bearing large swastikas as the telling backdrop for the pivotal late second act Kaltzberg Concert Hall Stage competition-after which the winning von Trapp family escapes.

Without diminishing the appeal of Rodgers and Hammerstein's last great score, the current well-sung and visually striking tour at Boch Center's Wang Theatre has significantly strengthened the impact of the musical's anti-Nazism message.

Right from the start, a handsome design and a talented, energetic cast help to compensate for inadequacies in the original Broadway text-suggested by "The Trapp Family Singers" by Maria von Trapp. Douglas W. Schmidt's vivid scenic design-from the spare Nonnberg Abbey to the elegant terrace and living room-enhance Maria's personal odyssey from postulant to family governess (in reality a tutor for only one of the children) and Captain von Trapp's wife (actually in 1927). Natasha Katz's nuanced lighting-with rich silhouettes and especially poetic light and shadow as the von Trapps flee the Nazis-often reflects the changes affecting Austria more evocatively that Lindsay and Crouse's far too understated narrative.

Jake Mills as fictional high pressure promoter Max Detweiler and Melissa McKamie as marriage-seeking socialite Elsa Schraeder have the right alarming readiness to accept a Nazi Austria-particularly in the disturbing number "No Way to Stop It."

Most of all, Lenz's earnest, high energy ensemble does full justice to the winning score. Jill-Christine Wiley brings fresh phrasing and gesturing to Maria's rendition-especially on the title number and the snappy children-involving song "The Lonely Goatherd." Mike McLean looks too young to play World War I veteran Captain Georg von Trapp and needs more tenacity in the early going but he does find the anti-Nazi's heart and feeling-most notably in the moving "Edelweiss."

Boston Conservatory graduate Lauren Kidwell (M.F.A. in musical theater) proves a big-voiced standout as the Mother Abbess, who remembers the joy of singing the brilliantly detailed "My Favorite Things" in her youth. She brings crisp gesturing to the number's title items and joins Maria's reminiscence with gusto.

Her first act-closing solo on the spirited "Climb Every Mountain" is a breakout showstopper. Jonathan Warren, recreating Danny Mefford's high-stepping choreography, has the talented young performers playing the von Trapp children warming to Maria as they embrace music and singing under her guidance.

Dramatic license has the family climbing to safety at night when they actually took a train to Italy in broad daylight-eventually, of course, immigrating to the United States. As the von Trapp singers performed, they were troubled by the sight of Jewish children being mistreated by their classmates. Lindsay and Crouse do not include this important factor.

Still, Linz-and O'Brien before him-add needed edginess-notably at the Kaltzberg Concert Hall. Enjoy your favorite things in this strong revival, but do keep in mind the book's regrettably mild treatment of the enormity of Austria's complicity with the Nazis.