Anthony Hopkins to release first-ever classical album

Sir Anthony Hopkins is to release his first-ever classical album next year.
Set for release some time in the new year with Classic FM, the album, titled Anthony Hopkins Composer, will include new works as well as some of the pieces he composed years ago.
The Hollywood actor has been composing music for some time and has even had his works featured on film soundtracks August and Slipstream.
He treated audiences to a first hearing of his music last July, when the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) performed some of his works, revealing to many people his hidden talent for the first time.
“I’m very pleased I’ve found an extra string to my fiddle,” he said.
“For years I mused and dreamt about turning my scribbled thoughts and bursts of melody into pieces of work to be performed by a full orchestra and to see this dream turn into a reality through working with CBSO and now Classic FM is something I treasure very much.”
Years before winning an Oscar for his performance in Silence of the Lambs and cracking Hollywood, the actor from Port Talbot in Wales started to learn the piano from the age of six. Even as a child he wrote musical ideas on sheets of manuscript paper.
He then went to Cardiff College of Music and Drama and had plans to become a concert pianist rather than an actor.
Describing his inspiration for composing music, Sir Anthony told BBC Wales earlier this year that dates have a particular resonance with him, explaining that his piece 1947 is about a trip to the circus with his grandfather that year.
Other works are often impressions from his childhood, such as sights and sounds from his memories, as well as inspirations from dreams and an aria dedicated to his wife Stella.