Maximilian von Altenberg is an Austrian engineer who travels to Sarajevo in the winter of 1997, and in a tavern he listens to an ancient ballad sung by Masha Dizdarevic -" the Tartar, the one with big eyes and long femurs "- whose beauty captivates him. Masha it is austere and wild, splendid and inaccessible. The powerful attraction is mutual, but Max must return to Austria and, as much as he tries to return to Sarajevo as soon as possible, three years pass, the three fateful years of which the ballad he sang spoke Masha, «Istanbul Yellow Quinces» - «one of those desperate songs, distillations of melancholy, that only the Danube knows how to evoke» -, a story of an unfortunate passion that, as in a game of mirrors, both seem condemned to repeat. finally the reunion takes place, Masha is seriously ill, but love blossoms and a wind rises that snatches the soul and the senses, that arouses tears and dreams. From that moment, begins an adventure beyond sadness that will take Max to the magical places of Masha, on a journey that is a rite, discovery and rebirth.

 The quince of Istanbul is a beautiful and unclassifiable work that combines the epic of the great stories and the rhythm of the ballad, a singular and fascinating novel-song like the stories that are told around the fire and then travel by word of mouth, crossing eras and borders.