Violinist Michael Holme is overwhelmed by memories of Julia McNicholl, a pianist whose beauty was as mesmerizing as her musical genius, and whom Michael loved with an intensity he never found again. Years after parting, Michael is still in love with Julia. After a chance meeting, he persuades Julia to join his quartet on its tour of Vienna. Although Julia is now happily married and the mother of two children, and is reluctant to lead a double life, they once again become lovers. But circumstances will doom their love, for while Julia still performs publicly, she's losing her hearing; her reunion with Michael is an idyll that can't last.