Simon Rattle will leave the London Symphony Orchestra to become chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2023, in what has been described as a blow to the classical music industry in Britain.

"The Bavarian Radio Orchestra is very pleased that Sir Simon will come to Munich as our new chief conductor," said Ulrich Wilhelm, general director of Bavarian Radio. 

Rattle, whose contract in Bavaria will last five years, will take over from Mariss Jansons, who died in December 2019.

"My reasons for accepting the role of principal conductor in Munich are entirely personal, enabling me to better manage the balance of my work and be close enough to home to be present for my children," he said in a statement.

Rattle, who turns 66 next week, is a prominent figure in Germany, where he led the Berlin Philharmonic from September 2002 to June 2018.

He still lives in Berlin with his third wife Magdalena Kozena and their three children.

Rattle has called Brexit a "terrible mistake" and made no secret of the fact that he would not have returned to lead the LSO had he known Brexit might turn his homeland into a "self-built cultural jail".

He officially took the baton of the LSO in 2017, a year after the Brexit referendum.

However, British media reported that his reason for quitting London was dissatisfaction with the home of the LSO, the Barbican Hall, which he views as inadequate for music at the highest level.