The Cello Francesca, or, Balderdash

Oren, a young cellist is in love with enchanting Anna Rosen, and with the enchanting cello "Francesca." He was present at the birth of the cello, created her varnish, and was her first player. He knows her, and wants to know more. Anna, on the other hand, bears scars and secrets that she is reluctant to reveal, even as she and Oren commence a dazzling and passionate affair. When a time comes to choose, both Anna and Francesca disappear from Oren's life, leaving wreckage and heartbreak. In a frozen and melancholy middle age, Oren begins to hope that he can salvage himself by recovering the passions of his youth. Anna, gone forever, was a beautiful woman, and Francesca is just a thing of wood and wire ... isn't she?