A British conductor best known for his work at the Berlin Philharmonic has won a prestigious Israeli prize honouring achievements in the arts and sciences.

Sir Simon Rattle, the former conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, was named as the co-recipient of this year's Wolf Prize for his contribution to music.

He shares the £64,000 prize with tenor , the first ever vocal artist to win the award.

The prize, awarded by the foundation of the former Cuban ambassador to Israel, Dr Ricardo Wolf, recognises contributions in categories, including physics, chemistry, medicine mathematics. It was set up in 1976 to "promote art and science for the benefit of mankind", with the first prizes awarded two years later.

Domingo, who is Spanish, spent three years at the start of his career singing with the Israeli opera company. Prizewinners will receive their awards at a ceremony in the Knesset later this year.

Previous winners of the Wolf Prize, many of whom have gone on to win Nobel Prizes, have included Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Zubin Mehta, and artists Anselm Kiefer, Louise Bourgeois and Gerhard Richter.