Mira returns home to Dushanbe from Russia to visit her father, a wastrel who is completely addicted to a game called “odds and evens,” or Kosh ba Kosh. When another player comes to collect on gambling debts and finds nothing of value, he sets his sights on Mira.

Composer Johann Sebastian Bach is introduced to King Frederick II of Prussia in 1747. The aging composer and the young monarch clash and a battle of egos ensues.