Hilda Greer discovered the violin at the age of seven, when she attended a performance by the virtuoso Phillip Manns. She believed him with a child's faith when he declared himself the reincarnation of Niccol Paganini and then dashed from the stage, his mind in ruins. Manns disappeared from the music world after that catastrophic performance, but Hilda's love affair with the violin was just beginning.

Nearly a decade after his breakdown, Phillip Manns lives a reclusive life, safely insulated against the temptations of music-until a former colleague begs him to teach at a nearby conservatory. It's there that he meets Hilda Greer, who's come to audition at the insistence of her mother. She plays for him the piece that started it all: Paganini's Le Streghe, or Witches' Dance.

Entranced by the character of Hilda's playing and unable to resist the siren call of music, Phillip takes Hilda under his wing. The two start a witches' dance of their own, a whirlwind that sweeps them toward the International Paganini Competition. When their curtain falls, one will bask in the music world's acclaim-and the other's world will be shattered completely.