Louis-Aimé Maillart (1817-1871) was a French composer, best remembered for opera. Born in Montpellier, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won the Prix de Rome.

His best-known work is Les dragons de Villars, an opéra comique that enjoyed lasting popularity in the nineteenth century. He also wrote other stage works and songs.

Maillart’s music belongs to the French theatrical tradition of clear melody, lively pacing and graceful vocal writing. It is elegant rather than monumental, and built for the stage.

Though now a specialist name, Maillart forms part of the busy operatic world that surrounded better-known composers. His music reminds us how crowded and tuneful nineteenth-century Paris really was.