photo courtesy of www.rpo.co.uk The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Britain's national orchestra, plays one of its 19 American tour dates at Centennial Hall tonight at 7:30.

People die, cellos are smashed, but the orchestra plays on

You don't have to be the queen mother, fondle Prince Charles or like the Beatles to enjoy the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra tonight.

At 7:30, Britain's national orchestra will perform its only show at Centennial Hall. Tucson is one of its 19 touring stops in the United States.

Cassandra Burt, the orchestra's head of concerts, said the internationally known ensemble conducted by Daniele Gatti will be performing Mozart's "Symphony No. 40" and Schumann's "Symphony No. 3."

Gatti, who made his debut at age 17, is considered the foremost conductor of his generation. When it comes to the orchestra, Burt said people come away thrilled with the performance.

"They (the orchestra) are very intense about their music-making, but they also enjoy it," Burt said. "There is a common perception that an orchestra is conservative, but the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is made up of young people who are lively. And that comes across onstage."

Britain's Francois Rive has been a cellist in the orchestra for 19 years and has a few stories in his cello case.

Wildcat: Have you ever played for the queen mother?

Rive: Yes, I have, on one or two occasions. When there's royalty around, there's always other security around. And the queen mother didn't use to go to many concerts, really. She was always doing other things.

Wildcat: In your younger days, did you guys ever sword fight with your bows?

Rive: Not literally. Bows are too valuable to start messing around like that.

Wildcat: Have you ever considered taking, like, a cheap cello on stage and then at the end, doing a The Who kind of an ending, where you smash the cello on the stage?

Rive: You don't usually get as far as that. We might cool down someplace and chat about it later, but it's not a professional code to go beyond that. That would not be acceptable at all.

Wildcat: I've heard the orchestra is very dedicated to its country. Do you guys replace Gideon Bibles with "Harry Potter" books at the hotels you stay in?

Rive: No, I don't think so. I don't think we would get into any involvement like that, really.

Wildcat: You're not a big prankster, are you, Francois?

Rive: I'm not a big ... gangster?

Wildcat: Prankster.

Rive: Oh! Prankster. We like to laugh a lot if we can.

Wildcat: Do you have any funny stories for me? Like, have you ever walked onstage with your zipper down?

Rive: Yes. I've done that, yes. We've had all sorts of things happen in concert over the years. People die in the audience ...

Wildcat: People have died in the audience?

Rive: Yeah. I remember one incident where somebody had a heart attack and died. And there was all this noise and the conductor turned around and gave this guy a hard time for dying. It was funny at the time, but when I look back, I think it was maybe not, you know? The conductor turning around, giving the guy a hard time and telling him to die somewhere else.