Santa Lucia

Santa Lucia was published in Naples in 1849 by Teodoro Cottrau, who translated the Neapolitan text into Italian and issued it during the Risorgimento: the first Neapolitan song to appear in Italian, and the model for everything the city's publishers did afterwards. The words describe the waterfront district of Santa Lucia, sung from a boatman's point of view. Whether Cottrau composed the melody or arranged an existing one has never been settled. Enrico Caruso's recording carried it worldwide, and Swedish and American versions gave it a second life abroad.