In September of 1740, singer Tito Amato receives a curious invitation. The German composer Karl Johann Weber is rehearsing a new opera at an isolated villa nestled in the hills of the Venetian mainland. Would Tito accept the lead role? Puzzled by the air of secrecy that enshrouds the production, but attracted by a generous fee, Tito agrees. Happily, Tito Will not be traveling alone. Artist Gussie Rumbolt, Tito's friend and brother-in-law, has also been summoned to paint scenes of the estate's grape harvest. The countryside is awash with the golden hues of autumn, but the bucolic mood quickly turns menacing when a notorious figure from Tito's past turns up at the villa. Then at the stroke of twelve, a soprano stumbles over a stranger who has been beaten to death with the clock pendulum. With the local constable away on a boar hunt, the midnight murderer has struck with impunity, raising terror to a fevered crescendo. So Tito pursues his own quest for answers - a quest that leads straight into the painful secrets of his heart and beyond.