Anthony Hopkins walked out of Walt Disney Concert Hall on Sunday evening feeling deeply inspired. The two-time Oscar winner attended a Los Angeles Philharmonic performance conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. He made sure everyone knew exactly how the night went.
Hopkins posted to Instagram today, tagging Dudamel, the concert hall, and several collaborators. The message was short and sincere. “Thank you, Maestro, for a glorious, unforgettable evening,” Hopkins wrote, capping it with a musical notes emoji. Then he closed with a line from Shakespeare: “Music is the food of love.”
That’s the opening of Twelfth Night. Honestly? It slaps as a sign-off.
The quote comes from Duke Orsino’s opening speech – a meditation on how music and love feed each other. Hopkins choosing that particular line after a night of live orchestral music was not an accident.
Hopkins, 88, has never been shy about his love for the arts. He paints regularly and has talked about it in multiple interviews. He composes music and has credited creative pursuits with helping him through difficult stretches of his life. A night at the LA Philharmonic fits that side of him perfectly. Coming home and quoting the Bard on Instagram afterward? That’s just Anthony Hopkins being Anthony Hopkins.
Dudamel has led the LA Philharmonic since 2009 and is one of the most celebrated conductors working today. The Venezuelan-born maestro brings a physical, almost electric energy to the podium. Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Frank Gehry-designed landmark in downtown Los Angeles, is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest venues for live orchestral music. Put those two things together and you’ve got a night worth pulling Shakespeare off the shelf for.
Hopkins didn’t name specific pieces or break down the program. The post was a tribute, not a review. That’s fine. A man who has won two Oscars and a knighthood doesn’t need to explain himself. He went. He loved it. He said so.
The post also tagged conductor Alberto Arvelo and Yola United, hinting the evening may have connected to broader cultural or community programming. Dudamel has long championed music education and outreach through the LA Phil. Any event in that space fits his reputation perfectly.
Fans in the comments caught on quickly. Several flagged the Shakespeare reference right away. More than a few pointed out that Anthony Hopkins quoting Twelfth Night on Instagram is the kind of cultural crossover the internet was genuinely built for.
Dudamel hasn’t responded publicly yet. But getting called “Maestro” by Sir Anthony Hopkins, with a line from the Bard as the closing argument? That’s a very good Sunday.
