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Ann Valerie, Lady Solti (née Pitts; 19 August 1937 – 31 March 2021) was a British television presenter who was one of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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's original team of presenters during the 1950s. She left the programme in 1960 to marry James Sargent who was stage manager of the Sadler's Wells Opera Company. She also worked at
Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
. She later married the conductor Sir
Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...
.
Life and career
In 1961 Pitts appeared as a patient in the comedy film Dentist on the Job. She met Georg Solti in September 1964 when she interviewed him, fortuitously, as a last minute alternative to replace a missing news item.
Solti pursued her romantically and finally persuaded her to leave her husband. They married on 11 November 1967, and had two daughters, Gabrielle and Claudia. She appeared on children's television, as a presenter of ''
Play School'' and then at Granada a series for older children, ''ExtraOrdinary'', which covered strange-but-true stories from science and the arts. She gave up her career as a presenter, though she continued to appear occasionally on television (such as on the quiz show, ''
Face The Music)'' and worked with Solti for various charities.
Pitts was the patroness of the World Orchestra for Peace, which her husband founded and whose first concert at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
he conducted. In addition, she has devoted time to other cultural organizations, including the
Sadler's Wells Theatre Trust, the Mariinsky Theatre Trust, the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...
, Musica Nel Chiostro, Battignano Italy, the Hungarian Cultural Centre (London), Liszt Academy (Budapest), the
Harrogate International Festivals
Harrogate International Festivals (HIF) is a registered charity and one of the UK's longest running arts festivals, having been established in 1966. Based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
Festivals include the Harrogate Music Festival, Theakston Ol ...
as Vice Patron, and the
W11 Opera W11 Opera is an independent opera company in London which produces operas performed by young people aged 9 to 18. Founded in 1971, it takes its name from its location in W11, a postal district in West London consisting largely of Notting Hill and p ...
children's opera company in London.
After Sir Georg Solti's death on 5 September 1997, Pitts and her two daughters began The Solti Foundation to assist young musicians. In 2002, a website dedicated to Georg Solti was launched, under the instigation of Lady Solti.
Lady Solti died at home in London in March 2021 at the age of 83.
See also
*
Petites Promenades (CSO Children's Concert Series)
*
Sir Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition
The Sir Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition is a German competition for conductors that occurs biennially in Frankfurt, at the Alte Oper. The cooperating music organisations are the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester and the hr ...
Archives
Unpublished sound recordings (C1227) at the British National Archivesref>
Notes
References
*
*
External links
*
Biography from World Orchestra for Peace->
The Solti Foundation websiteRemembering Lady Solti at ''From the Archives'' blog
1937 births
2021 deaths
BBC television presenters
British television presenters
English television actresses
Actresses from Leeds
{{UK-tv-bio-stub