Anthony Hopkins: 'Life is one long farewell — this album is my love letter to it'

Hannibal Lecter, with his piercing, unsettling gaze in "The Silence of the Lambs." An elderly man dissolving into the labyrinth of memory in "The Father." The impeccably restrained English butler concealing every emotion beneath a veneer of duty in "The Remains of the Day." Pope Benedict XVI, torn between God and man in "The Two Popes."

For more than half a century, the actor who moved between icy intellect and madness, between rigid self-control and explosive release, held audiences around the world in breathless silence. Now he has stepped back into the world as a debut composer. At 88, Anthony Hopkins has released his first album, "Life Is a Dream," on Decca Classics — one of the world's most storied classical labels — featuring 12 orchestral works he composed alone at the piano. Conducted by Gustavo Dudamel with the Philharmonia Orchestra and a roster of virtuoso soloists, the album debuted at No. 1 on the UK Official Charts classical weekly chart.

"Music was always my first wish."

Hopkins said this in a written interview with The Herald Business.

Behind the celebrated actor's name lay layers of musical history, long hidden from view. He came to music before he ever came to acting. He first sat at a piano at four and was improvising by six — music was always an infinite dream for the boy from Wales. His compositions carry within them the memories of those early years: his parents, the landscapes of his Welsh hometown.

"I'm fascinated by numbers and dates. My memories of childhood, my parents, Wales — they are remarkably vivid. Those times inspired some of my work."

Fragments of time past became musical notes. Memory was always the starting point. "Bracken Road," which captures the landscapes of Wales, was a melody drawn from a piano backstage at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1963 — a tune that traveled across decades to emerge, at last, as a sweeping orchestral work. "My Fatherland," a tribute to Wales, holds days Hopkins has long kept close. He describes it as "a piece to honor my humble beginnings as the son of a baker."

Never having formally studied composition turned out to be the very thing that gave his music its original wings. Unbound by the conventions of music theory and harmony, his notes found a freedom no textbook could have granted. He does not describe the creative process in complex or lofty terms. "My mind is structured to think in images," Hopkins said. "Often those images bring back memories. That is the source of my inspiration." The process itself, he acknowledged, is "not something I can explain in detail" — yet great artists have always served as his muses. "Most of the pieces I've composed come from deep within my soul," he said. "They are part of me, so I can return to them easily."

"When composing music, I draw inspiration from great figures like Edward Elgar. When painting, from Pablo Picasso."

The personal melodies locked away in a drawer finally found their way into the world through his connection with film composer George Fenton. It was during the production of "August," a film Hopkins directed in 1996. "He encouraged me to write the music myself," Hopkins recalled. Buoyed by Fenton's support, Hopkins went on to receive composing credits on "August," "Slipstream" (2007) and "Elise" (2020). Even so, the path from those early experiences to a full album release was not a short one. His music needed more time before it was ready for the world.

"Everything happens at the right time. It wasn't planned," he said. "Various things came together naturally, and my music came to the attention of Maestro Gustavo Dudamel. Everything converged unexpectedly."

Watching the sketches he had tapped out alone at a keyboard in a quiet room transform into grand symphonic sound was, for Hopkins himself, a singular experience.

"My whole life has been a dream. In this musical journey, Maestro Gustavo Dudamel — who played a central role in shaping its artistry — brought deep and indelible meaning to each note with his elegant and precise baton. He created a painterly landscape that draws each listener toward something uniquely personal and their own."

Hopkins called his encounter with the musicians and the world-renowned label behind the album "the honor of a lifetime and a true privilege." The artistic collaboration forged through the recording process extended into a gesture of solidarity: Hopkins has pledged to donate a portion of the album's proceeds to the UN Development Programme for relief efforts in Venezuela, Dudamel's home country.

The album's title, "Life Is a Dream," is drawn from a play by the Spanish dramatist Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Hopkins has layered his own life onto it.

"From birth to death, we are constantly saying farewell to something. Life is one long farewell. This album is my love letter to life."

He may call life a long farewell, but his hands still beat with a young heart. Hopkins said he has been improvising new pieces lately and wants to develop them into full orchestral arrangements — and he shared one more dream: to one day compose a film score.