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Salvini (Jean-Pierre Cassel) is an orchestra conductor of some renown. While rehearsing for a performance of Verdi's Othello he has a psychological crisis, brought on by his recognition of the man playing tympani in his orchestra. Near the end of World War II, Salvini took a false identity and hid in a remote monastery. While there, he encountered Romualdi, a funny, blustering buffoon who thought of himself as a true musical genius. Salvani and an actress, who was also hiding nearby, had some mean-spirited fun with Romualdi, pretending that the man was in fact a genius, and encouraging him in his delusions. Seeing Romualdi years later, humbly playing the least prestigious position in the orchestra, gives him pause, and causes him to rethink his career.