Editing Mefistofele (section)

==Composition history==
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Boito began consideration of an opera on the [[Faust]]ian theme after completing his studies at the [[Milan Conservatory]] in 1861. ''Mefistofele'' is one of many pieces of [[classical music]] based on the Faust legend and, like many other composers, Boito used [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]'s [[Faust, Part One|version]] as his starting point. He was an admirer of [[Richard Wagner]] and, like him, chose to write his own [[libretto]], something which was virtually unheard of in [[Italian opera]] up to that time. Much of the text is actually a literal translation from Goethe's German to Boito's Italian.

The most popular earlier opera based on the legend was Gounod's ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'', which Boito regarded as a superficial and frivolous treatment of a profound subject. Furthermore, Boito was contemptuous of what he saw as the low operatic standards prevailing in Italy at that time, and he determined to make his new work distinctive, both musically and intellectually, different from anything that had been heard before. He hoped that it would be a wake-up call and an inspiration to other young Italian composers.

The [[piano–vocal score]] was completed in 1867 while Boito was visiting relatives in Poland.