Die Zaubergeige (1944)

Friedberg near Homburg in Hesse, around 1850. Andreas Halm once again curses the poor tone of his third-rate violin, which he uses to accompany his pupil and secret girlfriend, Agnes, as she plays the piano. There is no way he can convince the famous violin virtuoso Georg Hellmesberger of his talent in just three days; Hellmesberger is due to play a violin solo at a concert in Homburg. Andreas longs for a proper violin, like the ones on display at Homburg’s music-history museum. He wants to show Agnes the violins in the museum just as a new instrument from the Landgrave of Hesse’s collection is being placed behind glass: a genuine Stradivarius. Andreas is captivated by the instrument, and Agnes notices. At the same time, while he daydreams about the violin, he has to earn a living: in the evenings he plays piano for the guests at the “Grotto” in Homburg, and he also has to show up regularly as second violin in the Friedberg Quartet. Eventually, things come to a head. Andreas oversleeps and arrives late for a concert by his quartet. The first guests have already left, which enrages Archivist Mittenzwey so much that he calls Andreas a drunkard and a Casanova in front of the entire quartet. Andreas, who is only trying to make a living, is so furious that he smashes his only violin over the archivist’s head. He then flees to Agnes. She knows what happened and gives him her savings—all 100 talers—so he can buy a new violin. But even the cheapest instruments cost more, so Andreas tries his luck at the gaming table and loses everything. Frustrated, he returns to Homburg to meet Agnes, but his behavior alienates both her and Hasel, who works at the “Grotto” as he does. That evening, he finds himself outside the museum, where violin music is coming from within. The virtuoso Hellmesberger is already in town and has persuaded the museum director, Becker, to let him play the Stradivarius briefly. When Andreas sneaks into the museum, a grand fireworks display is taking place outside, and Hellmesberger’s party hurries outdoors, leaving the violin unattended. Andreas takes it. The next day, his mentor and fellow quartet member, Professor Lichtermark, visits him and gives him one of his own violins so that Andreas can play at all. But Andreas takes the Stradivarius to the potters’ festival, where he gets the visitors dancing. Agnes realizes, however, that it must be a special violin and follows him to a mill, where the nearly crazed Andreas confesses to stealing it. She urges him to audition for Hellmesberger with the stolen violin the next day and then return it to the museum. The following day, she goes to Professor Lichtermark and confesses that she stole the violin. Andreas goes to see Hellmesberger to audition, but finds only the distraught court music director, Curtius, who is looking for a new solo violinist because Hellmesberger himself has fallen ill. Andreas plays for him and is hired. Curtius receives the confession of the violin theft with mischievous delight. At last, he says, the narrow-minded museum people will get their comeuppance for always locking valuable instruments behind glass instead of letting anyone play them. Nevertheless, he sends Becker a message reassuring him that the violin’s whereabouts are known. Becker, meanwhile, has been visited by Lichtermark and Agnes, who try to stop the museum director from calling the police. The concert takes place and is a great success. The Landgrave of Hesse, the violin’s owner, is also there. Long ago, he had decreed that the violin would be lent for life to whoever proved most worthy of it. When the concert is over, it is clear that no one could be more worthy than Andreas. In addition to a slap from his friend Lichtermark for all the chaos of the past few days, Andreas receives the violin and the prospect of marrying his girlfriend, Agnes.