Sir Anthony Hopkins tops chart with debut album

Nation.Cymru staff

Sir Anthony Hopkins has topped the UK classical music chart with an album featuring compositions inspired by his childhood in south Wales.

The Port Talbot-born actor, 88, reached number one on the Official UK Classical Chart with Life is a Dream, his first album for Decca Classics.

The 12-track collection brings together music written by the Oscar-winning star over more than six decades and includes several compositions drawing directly on his Welsh upbringing and family.

Sir Anthony, who is a self-taught composer, began playing the piano at four and started improvising when he was six.

“Music was my first desire, my first wish,” he said.

“I’ve been composing music all my life. Some of these pieces have lived with me for decades and I still find myself returning to them.”

Among the compositions is Bracken Road, part of his 1947: Suite for Solo Piano and Orchestra, which was inspired by childhood memories of Margam.

The piece is intended as a musical portrait of the streets, meadows, farmland and mountains surrounding his family home during the 1940s.

Its origins date back to 1963, when Sir Anthony was a young actor at the Liverpool Playhouse and developed the melody while improvising at an upright piano backstage before rehearsals.

Another track, My Fatherland, draws on traditional Welsh melodies and his enduring connection with Wales.

Sir Anthony previously said he wrote the piece to “honour my humble beginnings. I am the son of my father, the baker”.

Other compositions draw on memories of Port Talbot, childhood visits with his grandfather and the cinema which first captured his imagination.

There are also pieces dedicated to members of his family, including Stella Aria for his wife and Tara for his niece.

The music is performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra under conductor Gustavo Dudamel, with pianist Sergio Tiempo, cellist Gregorio Nieto, The Bach Choir and the Boy Choristers of Winchester Cathedral also appearing.

The album was recorded at Alexandra Palace in London in April.

Sir Anthony signed to Decca Classics as a composer in July before Life is a Dream was released on August 21.

Laura Monks, president of Decca, said: “It’s been a dream for the Decca Classics team to work with Sir Anthony Hopkins, Gustavo Dudamel and all those involved in this beautiful record, which reflects a lifetime’s passion and work.

“We congratulate Sir Anthony on this recognition of his talent as a composer and champion for classical music.”

The album has also received a positive critical response, with The Independent describing the music as ranging from “bright, brass-led fanfares to elegant waltzes” and praising Sir Anthony’s ear for harmony and melody.

Musical career

The chart success marks another chapter in a musical career that has run alongside Sir Anthony’s acting for much of his life.

As a teenager in the 1950s he composed music for local plays, while in 2012 he received a Classic Brit Award for Album of the Year for his contribution to And the Waltz Goes On.

He has since performed his compositions internationally, including with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Saudi Arabia in 2025.

Sir Anthony is donating a share of sales from CD and vinyl copies of Life is a Dream to the United Nations Development Fund following a series of deadly earthquakes in Venezuela.

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