In 1850, Robert, his wife Clara and their five children settle down in Duesseldorf where he has accepted a position as musical director. For the resourceful musician, who is considered more as one of the world’s greatest composers than a conductor, it turns out to be a bad decision. Nor is it a happy period for Clara, who is reduced to the role of a housewife instead of an acclaimed concert pianist performing throughout Europe to sold-out halls. That is, until she meets the young, brilliant Johannes Brahms. Clara and Johannes fall for one another. Robert, who is sick and suffering from severe depression, attempts to drown himself in the Rhine River. His life is saved and he commits himself to a sanatorium.