Translating his nightmares into music, supported by the love of an adoring daughter, Klaus recovers.
In March 1938 Germany annexes Austria. At the Heldenplatz Hitler gives a speech to 200,000 rapturous Viennese. A pogrom ensues… and Jews are expelled from the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Klaus Lehner plays for the Orchestra and covets the newly vacant concertmaster position. He is bitter when passed over. Eva, his lover and a virtuoso cellist, urges that they leave Vienna and pursue careers as soloists. Her Nazi husband finds out about the affair and has Klaus sent to a Mauthausen forced-labor subcamp. He survives, translating his nightmares into a tone poem.
Klaus returns to war-ravaged Vienna and to Helga, his wife, who has suffered terribly, and to Ilse, his adoring daughter. He makes a living busking on the streets of Vienna while seeking to rebuild a family.
When Klaus auditions for the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Eva is backstage, waiting.
