A celebrated conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra in Moscow loses his post during the Soviet regime when he refuses to fire his Jewish musicians. Twenty-five years later, the man is working as a custodian in the same theatre and helps his wife organize mock demonstrations of communist nostalgia. One day he intercepts an invitation for the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris and decides it is time to bluff his way to a comeback. He agrees to do the concert meant for the official orchestra and rounds up his old orchestra buddies.