Santa Lucia

Composer
Teodoro Cottrau
Composed
1849

History of the work

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.

Performed in