The principal conductor of the National Youth Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic has provoked outrage by claiming that orchestras "react better when they have a man in front of them" and that "a cute girl on a podium means that musicians think about other things".

When conducted by a man, musicians encounter fewer erotic distractions, Vasily Petrenko claimed. "Musicians have often less sexual energy and can focus more on the music," he said, adding that "when women have families, it becomes difficult to be as dedicated as is demanded in the business".

His comments to the Norwegian paper Aftenposten came before the Last Night of the Proms on Saturday, which will for the first time be conducted by a woman – the US conductor Marin Alsop.

Apart from his conducting roles in Britain, the Russian-born Petrenko is also principal conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, which he conducts at the BBC Proms on Monday and Tuesday nights.

The chief executive of the National Youth Orchestra, Sarah Alexander, said it was very disappointing that Petrenko should "express such a narrow view when he is chief conductor of an organisation that is run by a woman, half of whose teaching staff are women, all of whose senior management team are women and 50% of its members are young women, for whom we actively encourage a vision as future leaders".

She added: "It's not an opinion I have ever heard him express before."

Michael Eakin, the chief executive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, said: "To be honest the comments don't reflect the way he works with us and what we know of him … Vasily is always very clear: that it's all about musical talent and quality, and that's the defining factor with any musician."

In Norway, conductor Cathrine Winnes told Aftenposten: "I'm surprised that Petrenko can say something like that, both because it's simply not true and because that sort of view of women is so outdated … Petrenko is a fantastic conductor and great role model. His comments are therefore extra-unacceptable."

Petrenko later told Aftenposten: "If this had come up in Great Britain I don't think people would have reacted in the same way."

He also published a clarification of his remarks on the Oslo Philharmonic website: "What I said was meant to be a description of the situation in Russia, my homeland," he said.

"I have the utmost respect for female conductors, for instance the extraordinary talented conductor Marin Alsop."

Petrenko's remarks throw into relief major gender disparities in the world of conducting. Despite an improving balance among orchestral musicians, few women have broken into the top ranks of conducting.

Alsop is music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The Australian Simone Young is chief conductor of the Hamburg State Opera and Briton Sian Edwards, a former music director of English National Opera, is the new head of conducting at the Royal Academy of Music.

André de Ridder, who has conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra and English National Opera, said: "I have worked under Alsop and co-studied together with other young female conductors – mostly and foremost we grapple with the same things, being accepted and respected as musicians. The psychology of the job is tough under any circumstances, but probably even harder for women as there are fewer role models."

On Petrenko's comments, he added: "What about male musicians' thoughts wandering off when an attractive man is on the podium?"

Others in the music business are losing patience with the rate of change. Susanna Eastburn, a former head of music at Arts Council England and now chief executive of Sound and Music, which supports emerging composers, said "There's a wealth of female musical talent out there which isn't being put forward enough. I'm done with the 'we just need to focus on the best regardless of gender' argument – Petrenko's remarks illustrate that this is very far from being a level playing field and feminism remains an issue."

Alsop was unavailable for comment. She said in an interview last week: "When I first started out, there would be some pretty shocking one-off comments, like 'Girls can't do that'. One established conductor told me: 'Women can conduct Mozart, but not Mahler.' I would just laugh it off – humour was my best defence. Although I think if someone said that to me today, I'd take issue with it."