cello bow

In 2018, the Musical Instrument Fund was able to purchase this bow from a private individual who had known the bow’s original player: Frieda Belinfante.

A Special Story
During an exchange program in Los Angeles in 1973, Alan Lentz spent a few days with a musical host family: their home was filled with instruments. When he pointed out his hostess Bobbie’s cello, many stories emerged. Bobbie had taken lessons from Frieda Belinfante, who would later become Bobbie’s life partner. Lentz met Frieda that very same evening during dinner.

Decades later, Lentz encountered Frieda again, but this time in *A Brilliantly Forgotten Life: The Century of Frieda Belinfante* (2015). Toni Boumans wrote this book in memory of the cellist and conductor. She was so impressed by Frieda’s role in the resistance that she wanted to write a book and make a documentary about her life. Lentz meets the author and tells her about his experiences during his exchange program. Boumans manages to put Lentz back in touch with Bobbie, who tells him that she wants Frieda’s bow to find a home in the Netherlands. Lentz buys the bow so he can make that wish come true. He flies to the United States to retrieve the bow and approaches the Musical Instrument Fund because he knows that, once in the fund’s collection, the bow will remain in the Netherlands. The fund found the story so remarkable that they were willing to consider the purchase. After the standard appraisal, it was determined that the bow more than met the fund’s quality requirements and could be added to the collection.

History
Frieda (Amsterdam 1904 – Santa Fe 1995) was a cellist and conductor. Ary Belinfante, her father, was a pianist and encouraged Frieda to take cello lessons. Frieda was in a relationship with composer and pianist Henriëtte Bosmans (1895–1952) for seven years. Together with flutist Johan Feltkamp, the pair formed the Amsterdam Trio. The relationship between Bosmans and Belinfante ended in 1929, which also marked the end of the trio. Another couple emerged from this: Frieda married the flutist, but after six years, that marriage also ended. Meanwhile, Frieda conducted a youth orchestra and the Sweelinck Orchestra. In 1938, she performed with her own ensemble, “Het Kleine Orkest,” at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. During World War II, Frieda Belinfante was a member of the resistance and played a key role in the attack on the Amsterdam population registry in 1943. Shortly after the attack, she was forced to go into hiding. In 1947, she emigrated to the United States, where she settled in California. She moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1991. Belinfante passed away in 1995 at the age of 90.

Special Loan
After its purchase by the Musical Instrument Fund, the bow was temporarily in the possession of Dauwe Lentz, the son of the aforementioned Alan Lentz. In 2019, Dauwe played cello in the Netherlands Student Orchestra. He played the Belinfante bow during the NSO’s annual tour. On page 25 of the 2019 issue of Het Muziekinstrumentenfonds Magazine, Dauwe discusses the experience and its special significance to him: To Magazine 2019.

The Belinfante Quartet was also loaned the “Frieda Belinfante” bow for special projects. The quartet was founded in 2016 and, as its name suggests, draws inspiration from Frieda. The quartet used the bow a few times, for example during a chamber music lunch concert in ‘s-Hertogenbosch on November 9, 2019. Another fun fact: Olivia Scheepers, one of the quartet’s violinists, has a violin by G. Gatti (1912) on loan from the Musical Instrument Fund.

Since December 2021, the bow has been on loan to cellist Jurre Koopmans.