Frida Kahlo's voice discovered? Many deny: that voice is not hers

A few days ago, all national and international newspapers were quick to break the news of the "discovery of Frida Kahlo’s voice." In fact, as also reported in our newspaper, the discovery was accompanied by all the conditional and “maybe” of the case, because there was no certainty that the file discovered by the Fonoteca Nacional de México really contained the Mexican artist’s voice: in addition, a former lover of the painter, Esteban Volkov, had expressed doubts saying that he was not certain that that was really the sound of her words.

After Volkov’s came several other denials. The descendants released a note stating that, according to what the family knows, there are no recordings of Frida’s voice, but that’s not all: some of her students have spoken on several broadcasts to deny the discovery. Among others, Guillermo Monroy Becerril, who was also Frida Kahlo ’s friend and spent a lot of time with her, told the Spanish news agency Efe that “I don’t recognize her voice: the first time I met her, I found that she was a woman with a very sweet and cheerful voice. Frida’s real voice was lively, charming, joyful. It was neither serious, nor polished, nor delicate -- it was crystal clear.” He added that “I listened to the recording on television and it seems to me that it has nothing to do with Frida’s voice, because she did not speak like that, with that affectation that I heard.”

And again: actress and voice actor Amparo Garrido, who worked on the program El Bachiller (the one from which the recording came) in the very early 1950s, let the Mexican broadcaster Radio Fórmula know that she thinks that should be her own voice. And Amparo Garrido’s children also recognized their mother’s voice in the recording.

No confirmation or denial has yet come from the Fonoteca Nacional: for now, however, they let it be known from the institution that that file immediately became the most requested file ever in their online collection.

Frida Kahlo's voice discovered? Many deny: that voice is not hers

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.