[1][2] The plot concerns how a distinctive violin with an anthropomorphic carved scroll changed hands, the friendship of two young violinists, and the love of one of them for a concert pianist.

The film opens at the time of the Prague Spring, but the main events take place prior to World War II in Czechoslovakia.

The young woman, who does not know her parents, recalled the tune somehow from her childhood; she ran after the violinist, who told her his name was Jeno Varga and recounted the story of two boys who met in the late 1930s, at a music academy in Prague.

Jeno grew up on a poor farm with his mother and step-father; his father had abandoned wife and son, but left them a rare violin and the music of a 'canone inverso'.

David's mood darkens when he sees Jeno's original violin and this turns to resentment as he recognizes the instrument which his father claimed to have lost during the Great War.

During the concert, David arrives with the precious violin, but the SS enter and arrest all the Jewish musicians, including Jeno and Sophie.

Back in 1968 in Prague Jeno and Costanza witness the arrival of Soviet bloc tanks; he flees into the night leaving her with the violin.