With her daughter Anita, a young singer, the widow Marianne von der Halden undertakes a journey into the past. She wants to see her former admirers again. One of them is the chamber singer Paul Schneider, who only remembers his childhood sweetheart with irony. They meet the former student Werner Birkner at his wedding, where Anita meets the teacher Michael Brantner. But the encounters make no impression on Marianne. Until she meets her former great love again at a concert given by her daughter, ...