British conductor Simon Rattle is moving back to his home country as music director of the London Symphony Orchestra following news of his departure from the Berlin Philharmonic.
The 60-year-old, considered one of the greatest conductors in the world by critics, will take up the baton at the LSO in 2017, the orchestra said Tuesday, following in the footsteps of figures including Andre Previn and Valery Gergiev.
Rattle, who has been chief conductor at the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002, told the BBC last month that London lacks a concert hall with acoustics good enough for world-class performances.
Britain's finance minister George Osborne has said he will look into the feasibility of a new venue.
Rattle said in a statement that he "cannot imagine a more inspiring way to spend my next years and feel immensely fortunate to have the LSO as my musical family and conspirators".
The LSO is the resident orchestra at the Barbican Centre in London, which Rattle described as merely "serviceable".
Before going to Germany, Rattle was at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the 1980s and 1990s.