Anthony Hopkins is one of the greatest actors of all time. It’s hard to imagine him anywhere else but on our big screens. Who else could’ve truly played Hannibal Lecter with such menace other than him? What would he have done other than act? Apparently, he would’ve been in the world of classical music, something you could definitely imagine Hannibal Lecter doing.
In an interview with Billboard, Hopkins admitted that his first love was actually music. However, because he didn’t immediately catch on to it, it never stuck. “I didn’t have the skill as a musician or the patience with theory,” the actor told the publication. “So, I have no technical knowledge.”
Now, after years of trying to understand the music he loves behind the scenes, Anthony Hopkins is releasing his classical album Life is a Dream. He composed the album personally, looking to create a record that reflects the life he led. Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel led the Philharmonia Orchestra in recording the album, which he was especially taken aback by.
“What drew me in was its authenticity,” Dudamel said to Billboard. “Anthony writes without pretense, and he follows his own artistic instinct. When I spent time with his scores, I wasn’t thinking about the fact that they were written by one of the world’s great actors. I was simply responding to the music itself. It has warmth, imagination, and a very personal voice, and I felt it deserved to be heard.”
Anthony Hopkins Goes All In on Classical Music After Playing Iconic Roles Like Hannibal Lecter
The end of life and the pain that comes with it play pivotal roles in the record. He looks deeply at grief and the beauty in finality. “They’re all part of a great theme: that we’re here, but, finally, we have to say goodbye. That’s the poignancy and the beauty of life,” Anthony Hopkins said.
More specifically, he reflected on his father’s long, complicated life, still keen on living despite the struggles of post-World War II Europe. “I look back at him with a kind of strange, morbid nostalgia, thinking, ‘That was it. That’s the bane of life. You get up, and you get on with it,’” Anthony Hopkins continued.
“Music for me is based on pain. Life is painful, and my music reflects that…That’s the beauty and eloquence of life, because no one in this world knows what happens once we close our eyes and die.”
Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival
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