The film is divided into two sections, the first telling events from Hilary's point of view and the second from Jackie's. It opens with Hilary and Jackie as children being taught by their mother to dance and play musical instruments, the cello for Jackie and the flute for Hilary. Jackie does not take practising seriously at first, but when she does, she becomes a virtuoso, quickly rising to international prominence. Marriage to pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim follows.
Passion concentrates on Grainger's unusual relationship with his mother and his sexual peculiarities (especially his obsessive self-flagellation, though homosexuality is also hinted at) which affect his relationship with a woman who comes to love him.
The film opens with violinist Roberta Guaspari having been deserted by her US Navy husband and feeling devastated, almost suicidal. Encouraged by her mother, she attempts to rebuild her life and a friend from student days recommends her to the head teacher of a school in the tough New York area of East Harlem. Despite a degree in music education, she has little experience in actual music teaching, but she's taken on as a substitute violin teacher. With a combination of toughness and determination, she inspires a group of kids, and their initially skeptical parents. The program slowly develops and attracts publicity.
Following the recent death of her second husband, for Christmas, Yvette tries to meet the three daughters from her first marriage with Stanislas, the gypsy violinist, again. During the preparations, questions and revelations are well underway from Louba, the artist, Sonia, the middle child and Milla, the rebel.
The film structure loosely follows that of the minuet: four "movements", which are announced by titles: two themes, a duet, and a set of variations. 1- Chan Kar-fu's (Takeshi Kaneshiro) introduction 2- Yau Muk-yan's (Aaron Kwok) effect on his life 3- Mok Man-Yee's (Kelly Chen) effect on their lives 4- Chan Kar-fu's literary vision of love. This fourth "movement" (Variations) is a wild fantasy on the previous material, based on the novel written by Kaneshiro's character: The XO Pair.
The film frames the history of the "Red Violin" around a Canadian auction in 1997, where the violin is at the centre of multiple bids by interested parties, and a tarot card reading in 1681, where a violinmaker's wife has her future read for herself and her unborn child (and, by extension, that of the violin).
In 1927, unemployed German-Jewish actor Harry Frommermann is inspired by the American group The Revelers to create a German group of the same format. He holds auditions and signs on four additional singers and a pianist. Naming themselves the "Comedian Harmonists", they meet international fame and popularity. However, they eventually run into trouble when the Nazis come to power, as half the group is Jewish.
Lord Vishnu (Suman) listens to requests from his consort Lakshmi (Bhanupriya) that there weren't many people singing songs in praise of the Lord in Telugu language. In response, the Lord sends Nandaka (His sword) to be born as Annamacharya to a childless couple in Tallapaka village, Kadapa District. Growing as a normal young man, Annamayya (Akkineni Nagarjuna) is in love with his 2 cousins Timakka and Akkalamma (Ramya Krishnan and Kasturi) and thinks that his cousins are the most beautiful creations of god.
Pallavi (Kitu Gidwani), a budding Indian classical singer, is the daughter and student of celebrated classical singer, Karuna Devi (Kapila Vatsyayan). While she was still gaining her confidence, her mother expires suddenly; due this shock Pallavi loses not just her bearings, but also her voice. Subsequently she also loses her career, her students, and her husband (Bhaveen Gosain).
A man (Geoffrey Rush) wanders through a heavy rainstorm finding his way into a restaurant. The restaurant's employees try to determine if he needs help. Despite his manic mode of speech being difficult to understand, Sylvia learns that his name is David Helfgott and that he is staying at a local hotel. She returns him to the hotel and despite his attempts to engage her with his musical knowledge and ownership of various musical scores, she leaves.