1777: renowned since the age of four as a child prodigy with exceptional musical talent, a now-21-year-old Mozart leaves a secure life and job as a professional court musician in Salzburg to become a composer, travelling to Mannheim, then considered the musical capital of Europe, and Paris, where a new, popular form of musical performance provides him with a commission. But just as he feels his fortunes have changed for the better, he must overcome his mother's tragic death and his oppressive, unsympathetic father to break through.