In Rio de Janeiro in 1886, eighteen-year-old conductor Arturo Toscanini (C. Thomas Howell), in Brazil on an orchestra tour, is torn between an aging soprano attempting a comeback and a mistress his own age. Opera diva Nadina Bulichoff (Dame Elizabeth Taylor) has interrupted her stage career for Emperor Dom Pedro II (Philippe Noiret), the of Brazil. When Toscanini begins to coach his childhood idol for a return to the stage in "Aida", Nadina has fallen into deep depression. Toscanini is instrumental in her transformation as her performance proves to be an ultimate triumph and she is back the top of her art.