The wait music on Christopher O�Riley�s phone dispels any notions of pretentiousness.

It�s not a Shostakovich prelude. Nor a Debussy sonata.

It�s a Morrissey piece. �The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get,� to be specific.

Such a selection might seem strange for an acclaimed classical pianist. But then again, O�Riley � who plays this Saturday at the Wisconsin Union Theater � has never been one to limit himself to one musical genre. From recordings of his arrangements of Scriabin and Stravinsky, to his collaborations with jazz pianists and pairing of classical tangos, O�Riley�s technical virtuosity is matched only by his stylistic versatility.

Yet most of the attention over the last few years has been from the addition of some contemporary composers to his repertoire: Radiohead, Nick Drake and Elliot Smith.

O�Riley first began playing his own transcriptions of Radiohead songs during breaks on his National Public Radio show �From The Top,� where the fare is primarily classical compositions. It caught on quick, as O� Riley explained in an interview with the Badger Herald.

�When listeners started sending e-mails into the show asking who this �Mr. Head� was and �Where can I find some more of his beautiful music,� we thought we had a good idea.�

Since then, O�Riley has recorded two albums of Radiohead transcriptions, along with subsequent interpretations of singer/songwriters Smith and Drake. He now travels the country playing these pieces live, to audiences of both classical music lovers and indie music fans. O�Riley often hears the latter whispering with surprised delight when they recognize one of his complex arrangements as a beloved Radiohead tune.

The enthusiastic reception wasn�t limited to radio listeners. Respected German-American pianist Claude Frank, a man used to perfecting the classics rather than interpreting them, intimated as much.

�He was at the Ravinia festival for the first time I played my Radiohead program, and he came backstage and said, �I don�t know Radiohead from a hole in the head, I didn�t know the music, I didn�t know the arrangements, but I loved the music, I loved the arrangements, and I loved the piano playing.� And yet, this is a man who has no business having an original idea in his head. And I like that very, very much.�

Some have even confused his contemporary transcriptions with classical pieces, such as when one admirer complimented O�Riley on his take on Debussy�s �The Sunken Cathedral� � actually his interpretation of Radiohead�s �All I Need.� O�Riley admits himself that many of the composers and contemporary artists he pairs share similar motivations and thematic backgrounds, which is one of the reasons he combines Soviet composer Dimitri Shostakovich with Radiohead.

�Both composers are � masters of irony in music. On one hand you have Radiohead�s �No Surprises,� which juxtaposes its musical environment � invariably upbeat and cheery � with lyrics that take a decidedly suicidal bent. � In the same way you have Shostakovich, who is writing under the watchful eyes and ears of Josef Stalin and had to master the art of subplot expression. He couldn�t really write what he wanted to. The whole rest of his career is based on things not said but suggested by their opposite. It�s a rather deep sort of musical environment.�

In a way, the musical influences appear as more out of necessity of composition than a casual application of arcane techniques. O�Riley noted indie-rock group Blonde Redhead as a perfect example of where the musical intricacies � while not necessarily attempting to bring in classical influence � evoke a much more �harmonic, classical language.�

�And yet, a song like �Misery as a Butterfly� is indelibly a pop song. But if you strip it down to its base, it sounds like Schubert.�

When O�Riley got a chance to meet Radiohead during their stint at Madison Square Garden, the conversation between him and singer Thom Yorke skewed away from the work of either performers. Instead, they spent 20 minutes talking about the music they enjoyed and current inspirations they had heard from other artists.

When it comes down to it, the novelty, stigma or brilliance of O�Riley�s interpretation comes from that simple drive of playing what you love.

�I don�t hear a song and immediately jump to �How can that work?� It�s usually just a question of �What songs can�t I stop listening to?��

Christopher O�Riley performs Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Union Theater. Student tickets are $10.