After the resulting social media outburst, Jansons conceded his remark was counter-productive.
Presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal for “outstanding musicianship”, he declared that the dream of being a conductor should be open “to every young musician, boy or girl”.
Whether any young person of either sex can match Jansons for sheer dedication is another question.
The 74-year-old conductor lives and breathes music, as was clear in the memorable concert of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 4 in G major, followed by Prokofiev’s Symphony No 5 in B flat major.
American-Israeli pianist Yefim Bronfman as soloist for the Concerto played the ornamented first movement with breathtaking dexterity.
Once described by the author Philip Roth as looking “less like the person who is going to be playing the piano than like the guy who should be moving it”, Bronfman is also formidable at conjuring up a fortissimo storm.
Sergey Prokofiev’s Symphony No 5 in B flat major brought another extraordinary performance by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
The Symphony was first performed in 1944, while Russia was at war with Germany.
Jansons was born in Riga when it was occupied by the Germans, before Latvia came under Soviet rule.
It was clear from the inspired performance that Prokofiev and Jansons share a free spirit.
Despite the evening’s exertions, Jansons gave three encores, ending with Prokofiev’s Death of Tybalt from Romeo and Juliet.