A young Parisian postman, Jules, is obsessed with classical music; he is particularly obsessed with Cynthia Hawkins, a beautiful and celebrated American soprano opera singer who has never allowed her singing to be recorded. Jules attends a recital at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris, where Hawkins sings the aria ''"Ebben? Ne andrò lontana"'' from the opera ''La Wally''. He illicitly makes a high-quality bootleg recording of her performance using a Nagra professional Reel-to-reel audio tape recording. Afterwards, he steals the gown she was wearing from her dressing room.