Documentary about sixteen great conductors of the 20th century.

The influential German-born conductor Bruno Walter is captured in this 1958 telecast as he rehearses the first and last movements of Brahms's Symphony no. 2 -- at the age of 81, shortly after he had suffered a heart attack.

A young Irishwoman comes to the United States to live and work with her mother as a cleaning lady at Carnegie Hall. She becomes attached to the place as the people she meets there gradually shape her life. The film also includes a variety of performances from some of the foremost musical artists of the times: conductors Bruno Walter & Leopold Stokowski, solists Arthur Rubinstein & Jascha Haifetz, singers Lily Pons & Jan Peerce and bandleader Vaughn Monroe among many others.