Radiohead, British rock legend of the 1990s, almost played Setnor Auditorium last night.

Accomplished pianist Christopher O’Riley was the real musical guest, sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts and PULSE. O’Riley performed traditional pieces by Jean-Philippe Rameau and Johannes Brahms, as well as his own interpretations of Radiohead songs.

O’Riley has appeared in venues around the world, and is the host of a nationally distributed radio program for Public Radio International, ‘From the Top.’ His most recent album, True Love Waits, is comprised entirely of his personal renditions of Radiohead songs, both popular and obscure. Due to his fame in both classical and rock piano, the crowd harbored a wide range of ages and reflected a variety of musical preferences.

‘I’m glad people are breaking down barriers instead of erecting them,’ said Eileen Strempel, assistant professor in College of Visual and Performing Arts and assistant to the dean in The College of Arts and Sciences. ‘We’re hoping that people who came to hear the classical music will start to hear music by bands they’ve never heard of.’

O’Riley also taught a master piano class Monday for three Setnor School of Music students. The class lasted two hours and consisted of O’Riley’s views on how people think about and listen to music and the decoding of musical score, Strempel said.

The classical portion of O’Riley’s show contained traditional, lulling renditions of Rameau and Brahms. Each piece flowed seamlessly into the other, and O’Riley was clearly feeling the music on a personal level. However, it was his Radiohead pieces that stood out. O’Riley mouthed the words to himself as he played, rocking back and forth on the piano bench. It took a true Radiohead ear to discern which song corresponded to which original track, but O’Riley made sure to fill the audience in between songs, often adding personal anecdotes.

Before delving into the song ‘No Surprises,’ O’Riley told of an encounter with REM lead singer Michael Stipe. Stipe had heard of O’Riley’s passion for Radiohead and inquired whether or not he knew how to play the song. At that point in time, O’Riley had yet to transcribe the tune to piano music, a fact that he regrets to this day.

‘I could have been sitting in a restaurant playing ‘No Surprises’ with Michael Stipe, but no,’ he lamented.

The more famous ‘Karma Police’ and ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ were recognizable among his 16-song set, but the crashing, impassioned key pounding of ‘There, There’ and haunting lilt of ‘Paranoid Android’ also caused murmuring in the crowd. O’Riley finished his performance with an encore piece – ‘Exit Music for a Film,’ which left the crowd on its feet.

‘I’m happy with what I’ve done with their music,’ he said after the show. ‘I have to figure out the melody and the harmony and keep working until it’s not too bad or embarrassing to play.’

O’Riley has in fact met members of Radiohead. While backstage at a concert, he introduced himself to lead singer Thom Yorke and bass player Colin Greenwood.

‘The first thing Colin said to me was, ‘We’re so excited about what you’re doing,” he said. ‘I told him, ‘I’m so excited about what you’re doing.”

O’Riley takes a level of pretentiousness in his musical tastes, which include U2, REM, Elliot Smith and Bjork.

‘I only listen to bands that don’t have any weak tracks,’ he said. ‘Coldplay sucks, and I don’t like the Flaming Lips either.’

Published on January 20, 2004 at 12:00 pm