Rattle and LSO join forces

London Symphony Orchestra (EPA)

Sir Simon Rattle, chief conductor and artistic director of the Berliner Philharmoniker since September 2002, will collaborate with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) at the Barbican for the first time in 10 years, when he returns to conduct Messiaen's Et Exspecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum and Bruckner's Symphony No 9 in March 2011.

Sir Simon last conducted the LSO in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos in 2000. He will also accompany the Berliner Philharmoniker to London for a series of four concerts in the same year. The London Concerts series opens at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Sunday 20 February, and continues with two concerts at the Barbican Centre, concluding at the Royal Festival Hall. All four events are already sold out. Sir Simon said: "I am delighted to be returning. This will enable us to share with London audiences the heart of our work."