Actor Anthony Hopkins has signed with Decca Classics to to release a record of original classical compositions. Life Is a Dream hits stores and streaming services on 21 August, and features performances from 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 recorded on April 2026 at Alexandra Palace. Other titles on the album include My Fatherland, inspired by traditional Welsh melodies and Stella Aria, in tribute to his wife Stella Arroyave.

Hopkins started playing piano at the age of four, and began composing music for local plays as a teenager. In 2012, he released the album Composer on Classic FM, which featured performances of his compositions performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. His works have been performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,

In 2012, André Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra surprised Hopkins with a performance of his work And the Waltz Goes On. Hopkins’ wife had sent Rieu the score without Hopkins’ knowledge after he expressed interest in having it performed.