If I Can’t Have You

The February Trio—a violinist, a pianist, and a singer—perform in a Soviet city. The violinist's infatuation with a television presenter threatens his engagement to the singer. Their quarrels are compounded by the pianist's unrequited love for her and the violinist's pressure from the secret police to betray his friends.

Victor Volovsky plays the violin; Praskovya Suslove is the cellist; Sergei Berdayev is at the piano. Praskovya is engaged to Victor, but Sergei also loves her. Their music is not affected by this inner turmoil, but the “people’s” government is. It wants Victor to spy on Sergei, who has expressed some reservations about the government. Victor becomes jealous when Praskovya, upset by his infatuation with a buxom, blonde television interviewer, pretends she prefers Sergei. This causes Victor to do something he later terms “despicable.”

Three musicians called the February Trio—a violin player, a piano player, and a singer—put on shows in a Russian city. The violin player falls for a TV host, which puts his engagement to the singer in danger. Things get worse when the piano player secretly loves the singer too, and the secret police force the violin player to turn against his friends.