The Nightingale of St. Petersburg

His life consists of balls and parties, though he neither dances nor makes merry. Blind from birth, he forks out a humble living by playing music to the happy participants. By chance he hears her sing and is captivated by her song, but try as he might, he cannot get her to reveal her identity, and with his sight taken from him, all he can do is listen to her voice, wondering all the while if she is truly human, or merely a figment of his imagination. Who is she really and what could her great secret be, causing her to hide from him and the rest of the city?