Charles Mackerras authority on Mozart's operas and those of Sir Arthur Sullivan. His ballet with John Cranko, "Pineapple Poll", is an arrangement of Sullivan music with a story based on one of W. S. Gilbert's "Bab Ballads". The piece premiered in 1951, soon after the expiration of copyright on Sullivan's music, and continues to be a popular light music favourite in English speaking countries. Mackerras later arranged music by Giuseppe Verdi for the ballet "The Lady and the Fool". He also arranged a suite from John Ireland's score for the 1946 film "The Overlanders", after Ireland's death in 1962. He became principal
The Shadow (fairy tale) "Skuggaleikur" ("Shadow Play") is an opera by Icelandic composer Karólína Eiríksdóttir with libretto by Sjón. Premiered in November 2006. In 2003, the Carolina Ballet premiered a ballet version of "The Shadow" with choreography by artistic director Robert Weiss, set to the music of Khachaturian, Kabalevsky, Gyorgy Ligeti, Fauré and Rachmaninoff. The ballet features an eerie sequence in which the poet contemplates his shadow in the mirror. The image, which at first copies his movements in complete synchrony, seamlessly emerges from the mirror frame (through effective changes in lighting) as another dancer in a gray full body stocking. The Shadow (fairy