Nicholas Laucella

[3][4] As a young man, Laucella first performed with an orchestra at the Eden Musée amusement center in New York City, which showcased musical concerts, public presentations of paintings, and motion pictures.

[3] Laucella's professional career took shape in the early 1900s when he was recruited by the Italian operatic composer Pietro Mascagni to serve as his principal flute during a concert tour in America and Canada.

[1][3] By 1904, Laucella left New York City to accept a position playing with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the Austrian conductor Emil Paur.

Critics described the composition as a rich tapestry of musical textures and The New York Times praised Laucella's fondness for Italian tunefulness.

[17] Based on these successful appointments, Laucella acquired the position of principal flute at the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 1919 under the musical direction of Artur Bodanzky.

During his fifteen-year tenure with the Metropolitan Opera, Laucella accompanied several operatic soloists, including Giovanni Martinelli, Lawrence Tibbett, and Giuseppe De Luca.

[20] He also appeared as a performer with the Longo Trio and collaborated with Scipione Guidi in a recording of several popular songs including: The Meeting of the Waters and Believe Me if All Those Endearing Young Charms by Thomas Moore for the Pathe Freres label (# 22353).

[21] In 1930, he collaborated with the Italian Baritone Giuseppe De Luca in a recording of the flute obligato from the "Serenade" scene in the opera I gioielli della Madonna for Victor.