Louis-Aimé Maillart was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 composer, best known for his opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

s, particularly Les Dragons de Villars and Lara.

Biography

Maillart was born in Montpellier

Montpellier

-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

 (Hérault

Hérault

Hérault is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.-History:Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...

). He studied at the Paris Conservatory from 1833, learning composition from Aimé-Ambroise-Simon Leborne and Fromental Halévy

Fromental Halévy

Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy , was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera La Juive.-Early career:...

, and violin from Guérin, and winning the Prix de Rome

Prix de Rome

The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...

 in 1841. He traveled to Italy for three years, before returning to France and composing six operas, all first performed in Paris.

Of his operas, Les Dragons de Villars (1856) and Lara (1864) are the best known. Les Dragons de Villars premiered at the Théâtre Lyrique

Théâtre Lyrique

The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century . The company was founded in 1847 as the Opéra-National by the French composer Adolphe Adam and renamed Théâtre Lyrique in 1852...

; it was also popular in Germany (under the title Das Glöckchen des Eremiten) and received a performance in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Lara was based on a poem of the same name by Lord Byron.

Maiilart died in Moulins, Allier

Moulins, Allier

Moulins is a commune in central France, capital of the Allier department.Among its many tourist attractions are the Maison Mantin the Anne de Beaujeu Museum.-History:...

 in the Auvergne

Auvergne (région)

Auvergne is one of the 27 administrative regions of France. It comprises the 4 departments of Allier, Puy de Dome, Cantal and Haute Loire.The current administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not...

 region of France at age 54. He is buried in Montmartre Cemetery

Montmartre Cemetery

Montmartre Cemetery is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France.-History:Cemeteries had been banned from Paris since the shutting down of the Cimetière des Innocents in 1786, as they presented health hazards...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

Operas

• Lionel Foscara (cantata) (1841)
• Gastilbelza (l'homme à la carbine) (1847)
• Le Moulin des Tilleuls (1849)
• Les dragons de Villars
  Les dragons de Villars
  Les dragons de Villars is an opéra-comique in three acts by Aimé Maillart to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Joseph-Philippe Lockroy.-Performance history:...
  
  (1856)
• Les Pêcheurs de Catane (1860)
• Lara (1864)

External links