Christine Baranski has teamed with the Skylark Vocal Ensemble for a unique rendition of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol.” She narrates this music-and-spoken word version, recorded in June and released in December.
Zelenskyy says proposals to end the war in Ukraine could be presented to Russia within daysSen. Cruz wants restrictions on military flights approved soon to prevent another midair collisionTrump administration says White House ballroom construction is a matter of national securityFormer South Carolina standout quarterback Steve Taneyhill dies at 52'General Hospital' star Anthony Geary of Luke and Laura fame dies at 78Ford scraps fully-electric F-150 Lightning as mounting losses and falling demand hits EV plansRaccoon goes on drunken rampage in Virginia liquor store and passes out on bathroom floorMysterious googly eyes go viral after appearing on public art in OregonOffice holiday parties can be dreadful for introverts and people with social anxietyA good shower is a simple shower, no matter what influencers recommendThe World in PicturesOlder adults may struggle to learn a new language but classes are a worthwhile exerciseBig retailers didn't pull ByHeart baby formula fast enough after botulism recall, FDA saysLike many holiday traditions, lighting candles and fireplaces is best done in moderationHumanoid robots take center stage at Silicon Valley summit, but skepticism remainsVatican unveils Nativity scene, lights Christmas tree in St.
Peter’s SquareEcuador y Chevron celebran fallo que ordena al país sudamericano pagar 220 millones de dólares Peter’s SquareEcuador y Chevron celebran fallo que ordena al país sudamericano pagar 220 millones de dólaresSkylark Artistic Director Matthew Guard and Christine Baranski are interviewed beside “A Christmas Carol In Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” by Charles Dickens, Dec. 1843,” at The Morgan Library & Museum, in New York, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. Skylark Artistic Director Matthew Guard and Christine Baranski are interviewed beside “A Christmas Carol In Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” by Charles Dickens, Dec. 1843,” at The Morgan Library & Museum, in New York, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. Skylark Artistic Director Matthew Guard and Christine Baranski are interviewed beside “A Christmas Carol In Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” by Charles Dickens, Dec. 1843,” at The Morgan Library & Museum, in New York, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. Skylark Artistic Director Matthew Guard and Christine Baranski are interviewed beside “A Christmas Carol In Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” by Charles Dickens, Dec. 1843,” at The Morgan Library & Museum, in New York, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. Skylark Artistic Director Matthew Guard and Christine Baranski are interviewed beside “A Christmas Carol In Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” by Charles Dickens, Dec. 1843,” at The Morgan Library & Museum, in New York, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. Skylark Artistic Director Matthew Guard and Christine Baranski are interviewed beside “A Christmas Carol In Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” by Charles Dickens, Dec. 1843,” at The Morgan Library & Museum, in New York, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. Skylark Artistic Director Matthew Guard and Christine Baranski are interviewed beside “A Christmas Carol In Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” by Charles Dickens, Dec. 1843,” at The Morgan Library & Museum, in New York, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. Skylark Artistic Director Matthew Guard and Christine Baranski are interviewed beside “A Christmas Carol In Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” by Charles Dickens, Dec. 1843,” at The Morgan Library & Museum, in New York, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. Skylark Artistic Director Matthew Guard and Christine Baranski are interviewed beside “A Christmas Carol In Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” by Charles Dickens, Dec. 1843,” at The Morgan Library & Museum, in New York, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. i was in the playground outside St. Matthew’s Church in Bedford, New York, about three years ago when she came across Matthew Guard, artistic director of the Grammy-nominated Skylark Vocal Ensemble.An Emmy- and Tony-Award winning actor, Baranski went on to attend some of his concerts. “I was a fangirl basically,” she recalled. “And I think we just said, `Wouldn’t it be fun to do something together?’”last December at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York, which owns the original manuscript of the 1843 classic. A recording was made last June at the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and released Dec. 4 on the LSO Live label. She will perform it again with the group on Thursday night at the Morgan, which is displaying the manuscript through Jan. 11, and again the following night at The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island, where she will again portray the acerbic Agnes van Rhijn when season four of HBO’s “I have this thing about keeping language alive, keeping beautiful, well-written language,” she said. “Dickens, Stoppard, Shakespeare. We’re getting awfully lazy in our use of the English language.”Baranski leaned on the skills that earned her an Emmy for “Cybill” and Tonys for “The Real Thing” and “Rumors.” “You get to bring to life a lot of different characters, none the least of which is Ebenezer,” she said at the library this month. “It’s wonderful for an actor to differentiate in as subtle a way as possible these different characters. As an acting piece, it’s wonderful. And not many women have done it. It’s been done by Alistair Cooke and Patrick Stewart and Patrick Page and all these great actors — but I get to do it with a chorus.” Guard weaves in underscoring by composer Benedict Sheehan with Baranski’s words and 10 carols that include “Silent Night” and “Deck the Halls” plus “Auld Lang Syne.”“This manuscript itself is about 30,000 words and we needed about 5,000 to make it a concert length,” Guard said. “I tried to create space in the narrative for obvious musical exclamation points or emotional feelings, almost like arias in an opera.” Sheehan had worked together with Guard on a 2020 recording “Once Upon a Time” that weaved together the Brothers Grimm’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” and Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.” “I said why don’t you commission me to write choral underscoring for the narrative that can kind of stitch together these different choral pieces?” Sheehan said. Baranski got narration experience in 2023 when she replaced Liev Schreiber with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall for Beethoven’s “Egmont.” “I could do this the rest of my career,” she thought at the time. “Just put me in a concert hall surrounded by great musicians.”After working with dialect coach Howard Samuelsohn, Baranski practiced on Zoom to hone a 19th-century voice and avoid cliché. “I said this is a good warm up for Aunt Agnes because it’s that kind of speech we were taught at Juilliard,” the 73-year-old Baranski said, recalling lessons from Edith Skinner decades ago. “Sometimes it’s just a question of modulating your voice, just different rhythms and staccato or legato,” she said. “I want the voice of the Ghost of Christmas past to be disembodied… ethereal.”“We take from each other,” she said. “When the chorus first heard my version of it, I think it subtly influenced the feeling of it and I take from the mood of the carol and bring it into my interpretation.” “It’s a really exciting back-and-forth actually,” Guard said. “It’s not really totally clear who’s driving the bus at times.”“We want to film this someday in the Morgan,” she said. “Make this a yearly event at the Morgan, because here’s the manuscript and people. It’s just one of those things like Handel’s `Messiah’ or `The Nutcracker.’” She’s going to gift the CD to her grandchildren, four boys ranging from ages 2 to 12. Among her previous holiday experiences was portraying Martha May Whovier in the 2000 movie “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” “They’re curiously not interested in my even being Martha May in `The Grinch,’” Baranski explained. “Their friends sometimes say: `That’s your grandmother.’ But I just want to be their grandma — do you know what I mean — and not somebody?”
Julian Fellowes Martha May Whovier Hans Christian Andersen Local News For Apple Holidays New York City Rhode Island Ebenezer Scrooge Classical Music Patrick Page Edith Skinner Liev Schreiber Agnes Van Rhijn Benedict Sheehan Patrick Stewart Howard Samuelsohn Charles Dickens Christmas Arts And Entertainment Matthew Guard Entertainment
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Princess of Wales Attends Christmas Carol Service and Honors Cancer VictimsCatherine, Princess of Wales, attended the Together At Christmas carol service and left a heartfelt note at an art installation dedicated to cancer victims, while also continuing her support of various charitable causes.
Read more »
‘A Royal Christmas Tail’ follows a dashing prince as he embarks on a Christmas questThe new holiday movie 'A Royal Christmas Tail' follows a dashing prince as he embarks on a heartwarming quest to find a mysterious woman.
Read more »
Princess of Wales Attends Christmas Carol Service and Pays Tribute to Cancer VictimsCatherine, Princess of Wales, attended the Together At Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey and left a handwritten note at an art installation dedicated to those who have lost their lives to cancer. The service and art installation highlight themes of love, compassion, remembrance, and hope.
Read more »
Princess of Wales Attends Christmas Carol Service, Supports Cancer Initiatives and Mental Health CharityCatherine, Princess of Wales, attended the Together At Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey, further showing her dedication to supporting cancer initiatives and mental health causes. Her recent activities, including a visit to Anna Freud Centre and supporting The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, demonstrate her ongoing commitment to important causes.
Read more »
Kody Brown Admits Trust With Christine Was 'Killed' Before ApologyKody Brown opens up about his apology tour and admits his trust with Christine Brown was 'killed' before tense 'Sister Wives' moment
Read more »
The many versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’ that you can watch in the Philadelphia region this seasonFrom the good old original one to a reimagined Levittown version, there's a retelling of the Dickens classic fit for all tastes
Read more »