Actor Anthony Hopkins has signed with Decca Classics to release a record of original classical compositions. Life Is a Dream hits stores and streaming services on 21 August, and features performances by the Philharmonia Orchestra led by Gustavo Dudamel.

Anthony Hopkins. Photo supplied

Hopkins’ works were composed over six decades, and are inspired by his Welsh upbringing, his family and important experiences from across hs life.

“Music was my first desire, my first wish, I’ve been composing music all my life,” said Hopkins. “Some of these pieces have lived with me for decades and I still find myself returning to them.”

“Signing with Decca is the honour of a lifetime. It has been a true privilege to collaborate with the distinguished Philharmonia Orchestra and the virtuoso soloists, cellist Gregorio Nieto and classical pianist Sergio Tiempo.”

The album’s first single, 1947: Suite for Solo Piano and Orchestra, was released on 10 July. Composed in 1963 (when Hopkins was 26), the work is inspired by the “streets, meadows, farmland and mountains” that surrounded his family home in Margam, South Wales, during the 1940s.

Life Is a Dream was...