Our conversations began in the weeks before the premiere of Anderson's opera, Thebans. Unsurprisingly, the opera was a recurrent topic in those early sessions and this, the longest conversation of this book, is an amalgamation of exchanges from before and after that important event. It starts with Anderson reflecting on the status of opera during his formative years and revealing that the idea for the plot dated back to having to translate Sophocles at school. Thoughts on the suitability or otherwise of potential plots for opera, and a preference for those that leave some things unsaid, lead on to the way that Thebans took Anderson's music into new territory. The difficulty of undertaking chamber opera or comic opera is also noted. There are insights on Anderson's manner of working with his librettist, Frank McGuinness, and he also explains the unusual approach to dissonance used in the opera. After a dialogue on the staging of the first production, and staging of opera in general, the conversation concludes with some observations about characters, the characterisation of the different acts, and the variety of musical approaches the opera elicited from Anderson.