Become a member: Subscribe

Music of the Week

And the Waltz Goes On

Anthony Hopkins

Music of the Week, January 2, 2026

And the Waltz Goes On

Anthony Hopkins

In Europe, it is customary to start the New Year with a waltz. Many concert halls are filled with the music of Strauss and Chopin and other great waltz composers, and everybody is charmed by the traditional New Year’s Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

The waltz we have chosen for our first Music of the Week in 2026 is rather unique. It was composed by none other than Oscar-winning star and actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, who, throughout his life, has been something of a “closeted” composer.

“I’ve been composing music all my life and if I’d been clever enough at school I would like to have gone to music college. As it was, I had to settle for being an actor.”

Hopkins composed this waltz at the age of 26, but it only premiered almost 50 years later when André Rieu and his orchestra played it in Vienna in 2012.

And like the waltz that “goes on,” so our planet Earth swings forward into yet another pirouette around the sun. Let it be a happy dance!

play-rounded-fill

Sir Anthony Hopkins' Waltz (subtitled)

Links

How We Met: André Rieu & Sir Anthony Hopkins (The Independent)

“One Day I Will Show You” – Sir Anthony Hopkins on Childhood Moments That Forged a Big-Screen Legend (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert)

Related at Solari

Music for New Year’s Eve: December 31, 2022: Johann Strauss – The Blue Danube

Music of the Week: April 5, 2024: Emma Kok – Voilà


Latest music of the week



Log in or subscribe to the Solari Report to enjoy full access to exclusive articles and features.

Already a subscriber?

  • Weekly interviews, including the popular Money & Markets show
  • Quarterly deep dives into major trends affecting you day-to-day
  • Aggregation of the most relevant news stories
  • Subscriber-only events and a digital platform to connect with other subscribers
  • Weekly subscriber Q&A sessions with Catherine and the Solari team
Learn More

© 2025 The Solari Report