The National Sound Libary of Mexico found a recording that just might be the voice of Frida Kahlo. If it proves to be her voice, that will make it the only known recording of Frida Kahlo’s voice.
“Have you ever imagined what the voice of #FridaKahlo could have been like?” asked Fonoteca National on Twitter.
The recording with what may be Frida’s voice is from a pilot episode of El Bachiller, a radio show that aired in 1955. She died in 1954 so it would have aired after her death. In the recording, you can hear a sweet, soothing voice dripping with affection while reading Frida’s essay “Portrait of Diego” from the catalog of an exhibition at the Palace of Fine Arts in 1949 that celebrated 50 years of Diego Rivera’s work.
The voice sounds nothing like I would have imagined.
Frida Kahlo’s image is everywhere. You can find her face emblazoned on products galore and because of that, her face is immediately recognizable to so many. But her voice? The sound of her voice has not been available for public consumption and so we’ve had to imagine it.
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How I imagined Frida’s voice …
In retrospect, I would have imagined her voice as being on the deeper side, not gruff, but maybe slightly gravely when she was tired or had been smoking too much. I would have imagined her voice to have a bit of bite in it when she had something witty to say and with undertones of pain just below the surface when she was being serious. I would have imagined that when she laughed, she would throw her head back and let out a deep raucous sound that would fill the space and people around her with joy.
But why? Why do I imagine her sounding that way? Probably because of my own biased preconceptions based on her art, her way of presenting herself, what I know of her life and mostly what I don’t know about her.
What did she really sound like?
Here’s a description of Frida’s voice from someone who did know her, French photographer Gisele Freund: “Frida smokes, laughs, speaks with a warm and melodious voice.”
Here’s the recording that the National Sound Librabry of Mexico found:
The tape is still being authenticated to ascertain whether it is actually Frida who is speaking on it. But the notes on the program say that it is the voice of the painter “who no longer exists,” which would make sense since the program aired after Frida died.
UPDATE: Family, friends and former students of Frida Kahlo are saying that the voice on the recording is not Frida’s and does not sound familiar to them. Amparo Garrido, a Mexican actor, believes that the voice on the recording is her own. “I feel it’s me and have for a while. I recorded various things for El Bachiller … I’m almost absolutely sure that I recorded this one.” Garrido told the Mexican radio station Radio Fórmula.
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