Phoenix 24
Six decades of private compositions enter a new orchestral life.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — July 2026. Anthony Hopkins has signed with Decca Classics and will release Life Is a Dream on August 21. The album brings together original compositions created by the Oscar-winning actor across more than six decades. Hopkins described music as his first aspiration and a lifelong creative companion.
The Philharmonia Orchestra performs the works under the direction of Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel. Cellist Gregorio Nieto and pianist Sergio Tiempo also participate as soloists. Hopkins praised Dudamel for giving the pieces emotional depth and an almost cinematic dimension.
The first single, Bracken Road, draws inspiration from Hopkins’ childhood in South Wales and forms part of his 1947: Suite for Solo Piano and Orchestra. Other compositions explore his family, homeland and memories of growing up as the son of a baker. Hopkins began playing piano at four and was already writing music during his youth.
Although the project has been presented as a major recording debut with Decca, it is not Hopkins’ first published collection of compositions. An orchestral album titled Composer appeared in 2012, and his waltz And the Waltz Goes Onbecame internationally known through André Rieu.
At 88, Hopkins is expanding a creative identity long overshadowed by his acting career. The new record presents composition not as a late experiment, but as an artistic vocation that existed before Hollywood fame.
After a lifetime portraying other people’s stories, Hopkins is finally conducting audiences into his own.