The associate conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has spoken of the “wonderful” experience of working with Sir Anthony Hopkins and bringing the actor's compositions to fruition.

Sir Anthony joined the orchestra on stage during the summer to introduce a performance of his original compositions and scores from some of his best-known films.

Now that Symphony Hall performance, called Anthony Hopkins – Composer, is to be released on CD through radio station Classic FM.

Associate conductor Michael Seal said he was amazed Sir Anthony had managed to memorise the names of every member of the orchestra when he arrived for rehearsals prior to the July performance.

Mr Seal said: “It was staggeringly good. Learning lines is his job but to learn a whole list of 70 to 80 names is amazing.”

Mr Seal met Sir Anthony half an hour before the day-long rehearsal began.

He said: “He told me a very nice story about meeting famous people and treating them the same as anybody else.”

The story concerned Sir Anthony’s father meeting Sir Laurence Olivier in a dressing room and asking how old he was. Someone asked him how he dared to do it, and Sir Anthony’s father replied: “He’s just another guy.”

“The message was, ‘you treat me like anybody else’,” said Mr Seal, “and we got on very well.”

Sir Anthony was with the orchestra for the rehearsals and then the performances in Birmingham and Cardiff.

“He seemed genuinely happy to hear the orchestra playing his music,” said Mr Seal. “He was smiling all day.”

Original compositions by Sir Anthony included an aria dedicated to his wife, Stella, and the 1947 suite, based on childhood memories.

The first movement of the 1947 suite, according to Mr Seal, is based on a memory of a childhood visit to the circus, where Sir Anthony saw an elephant.

The second movement was written to sound like an old jazz LP being played on a hot summer’s day.

“His music is very tuneful,” said Mr Seal. “Some pieces have a certain nostalgia. Stella is very pretty.”