... by the term 'contemporary'. On the one hand, it could be taken literally to mean; belonging to the same time, as the present i.e. written today. However, the term could also suggest how accomplished a production might be in grasping and understanding relevant and fundamental current issues and how successfully this can remain interesting for its audience. Many would argue that one of the primary requirements of a contemporary opera is surely that it must be accessible to a modern day audience. Whether an opera can achieve this without appearing moribund, is questionable. In order to explore this idea more fully, brief yet significant reference will be made to Benjamin Britten's 1945 prophetic piece, Peter Grimes. Particular attention will then be offered to Jonathan Dove's 1998 opera, Flight and Mark Anthony Turnage's 2000 opera, The Silver Tassie. Finally, to bring things fully up to date, Thomas and Lee's controversial yet ...

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