L OMBRA DELLA SERA - Segreti nel nero

The ghost of what the Rai broadcaster once was continues to linger, both in the nostalgia of those who lived through those years as they aired, and in that of those who later rediscovered them, years on, through various DVD editions of serialized dramas ranging from thriller to science fiction, from mystery to horror. A hypnotic black and white, intriguing screenplays steeped in popular culture and esoteric elements, a brand of science fiction far more interested in philosophical questions than in action, and music inspired by prog and the Italian film music of the era, with results that are at times genuinely gripping.

A distinctly Italian style, born of a varied cultural history that has by now been largely lost, surviving only in archives, after decades of homogenization into the mediocrity of private television. But this ghost lives on among us thanks in no small part to the commendable work of Genoese band L'Ombra della Sera, the alter ego of La Maschera di Cera (same lineup, different project), an Italian progressive rock band founded by Fabio Zuffanti and active since 2001, which here sets out to pay tribute to the soundtracks of those TV dramas, composed by masters such as Franco Micalizzi, Enrico Simonetti (father of Claudio Simonetti of Goblin), Riz Ortolani, Berto Pisano, Mario Migliardi and even Pooh.

With "Segreti nel nero", Fabio Zuffanti's band re-records long-forgotten pieces in a commendable, almost archaeological act of rediscovery, as shown for instance by the nineteen minutes of "Le venti giornate di Torino", a Rai drama that was never completed, based on Giorgio De Maria's 1977 novel, for which the band sourced the scores from the Rai archives.

If this is the most extreme case of digging through a lost memory, hearing such fine new versions of great classics like "A come Andromeda", "Gamma", "La ballata di Carini" or "Albert e l'uomo nero", and the revival of a prog sound enriched with jazz influences and funky flourishes, can only make us realize what Rai once was, and how homogenization is creativity's chief enemy — so damaging that it made an entire cultural heritage, one that had nothing to envy in other countries' television, vanish into thin air.

Ride the wave of great music

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04/05/2026