Perhaps the definitive 20th century recording of the song was that of
Enrico Caruso, the great Neapolitan opera singer.
Mario Lanza recorded this song in this album "Mario Lanza sings Caruso favorites", RCA Victor LSC-2393. In the United States, an early edition of the song, with an English translation by
Thomas Oliphant, was published by M. McCaffrey, Baltimore. In
Sweden,
Finland,
Denmark, the
Faroe Islands, and
Norway, "Santa Lucia" has been given various lyrics to accommodate it to the winter-light
Saint Lucy's Day, at the darkest time of the year. The three most famous lyrics versions in
Swedish are
Luciasången, also known by its
incipit,
Sankta Lucia, ljusklara hägring ("Saint Lucy, bright illusion");
Natten går tunga fjät ("The night walks with heavy steps"); and the 1970s "
kindergarten" version,
Ute är mörkt och kallt ("Outside it’s dark and cold"). The more common
Norwegian version is
Svart senker natten seg ("Black the night descends"), whereas the version commonly used in Denmark is titled
Nu bæres lyset frem ("Now light is carried forth"). There also exists a
Sámi version,
Guhkkin Sicilias dolin lei nieida ("In faraway Sicily, long ago was a girl"). In the
Czech Republic (or former
Czechoslovakia), it was made famous with the words
Krásná je Neapol ("Naples is beautiful") sung by
Waldemar Matuška. In
Austria, it is famous under the title "Wenn sich der Abend mild". It is sung by Austrian fraternities. In
Thailand,
Silpakorn Niyom (), the anthem of
Silpakorn University, borrowed the turn of
Santa Lucia; the founder of the university,
Silpa Bhirasri, was Italian. A Thai translation of
Santa Lucia (itself was adapted from Italian version) was composed in 2017 by Professor of the university's faculty of Archaeology to mark Bhirasri's 125th birthday anniversary. The translated lyrics was first premiered on 15 September of that year. ==Performances==