‘Music was my first desire’: Anthony Hopkins releases his debut single

Hollywood actor signs recording deal with Decca after decades of composing pieces inspired by his Welsh childhood

Anthony Hopkins says he has achieved his “first desire” of signing a record deal, with his debut single being released on Friday.

The 88-year-old Hollywood actor’s first album, Life Is a Dream, will be released next month by Decca Classics . It is a collection of pieces he has composed over six decades.

The debut single, Bracken Road, is inspired by his childhood memories of Margam in south Wales and the streets, meadows, farmland and mountains that surrounded his family home in the 1940s.

Hopkins, who won Oscars for his roles in Silence of the Lambs and The Father, said: “Music was my first desire, my first wish, 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. My whole life is a dream. Signing with Decca is the honour of a lifetime.”

His music is performed by the Grammy-winning conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

The actor, who was born in Port Talbot, has composed music since his childhood and began playing the piano at the age of four.

He said: “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. My deepest gratitude and respect go to maestro Gustavo Dudamel, whose artistry is an integral part of this musical journey.

“With the graceful precision of his baton, he transformed each note with profound and indelible meaning, creating a pictorial landscape that invites the listener to feel and imagine something uniquely personal.”

Bracken Road was composed by Hopkins in 1963 when he was a young actor at the Liverpool Playhouse. He pays tribute to Wales on another of the album’s tracks, My Fatherland, a piece he said he wrote to “honour my humble beginnings” adding: “I am the son of my father, the baker.”

Other compositions on the album draw on memories of Port Talbot, childhood visits to his grandfather, the cinema that first caught his imagination and the people closest to him.

Laura Monks, the president of Decca, said: “It is such a privilege to have the great Sir Anthony Hopkins join Decca Classics. His depth of talent and classical music knowledge, honed over a lifetime, is a joy to celebrate with this new album.”

Life Is a Dream will be released on 21 August