The Duchesse de Crakentorp
As The Royal Opera announces the casting of Tamsin Greig as the Duchesse de Crakentorp in Donizetti’s La Fille du régiment, we take a look back at one of opera’s most famous celebrity cameo roles.
Who is the Duchesse de Crakentorp?
Donizetti’s 1840 opera, La Fille du régiment, tells the story of Marie, a young woman raised by a regiment of French soldiers, after she was discovered on the battlefield as a baby. She falls in love with Tonio, a local Tyrolean peasant, who joins the army in order to be with her. When the regiment encounters the Marquise de Berkenfield, (who is later revealed to be Marie’s long-lost mother), the lovers’ marriage plans are thrown into jeopardy. The Marquise has grand plans to marry Marie to Scipion, nephew of the formidable Duchesse de Crakentorp (or, depending on your spelling preferences, de Krakentorp, or even Krakenthorp). Torn between loyalty to her newfound mother and the man she loves, Marie agrees to sign the marriage contract with Scipion. Can true love win the day?
About the role
The Duchesse de Crakentorp is a speaking role, meaning that performers with no formal operatic training – but with some French, and sufficient aristocratic hauteur – can perform the role. The first Duchesse was Marguerite Blanchard, who performed the role at the premiere on 11 February 1840 at the Paris Salle de la Bourse. In many modern performances of Laurent Pelly’s production, with its refreshed version of the dialogue, actors in the role are encouraged to adapting the script to reflect their comedic gifts – meaning that no two Duchesses de Crakentorp are the same! Other noteworthy Duchesses of the past include…
Famous Faces
Dawn French
Best known for her performances in BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley and the sketch show, French and Saunders, comic British actor Dawn French first played the Duchesse in The Royal Opera’s 2007 original staging of Laurent Pelly’s production, starring alongside Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez. In an interview published in 2012, French enthused, ‘It was absolutely fantastic to be working with these people. They are inhumanly talented. I have a friend I go to opera with and when I was offered the part he said, "You'd be mad not to do it".’ She reprised the role in 2010. Dawn’s full 2007 performance – complete with a feast of comedic ad libs – is available to view on Royal Ballet and Opera Stream here.
Kiri Te Kanawa
The New Zealand soprano, who performed the role of the Duchesse in 2014, reminisced about watching the opera for the first time in 1966, at The Royal Opera’s production La Fille du regiment, which starred Joan Sutherland as Marie and Luciano Pavarotti as Tonio. Te Kanawa’s performances coincided with her 70th birthday celebrations, and her performances as the Duchesse were her last before her retirement from the opera stage.
Miranda Richardson
British actor Miranda Richardson, famed for her performances as Queenie (Queen Elizabeth I) in Blackadder and Rita Skeeter in the Harry Potter film series, performed the role of the Duchesse in the 2019 revival of Laurent Pelly’s production at the Royal Opera House. Sabine Devieilhe and Javier Camarena as Tonio.
Famous Faces as The Duchesse
Across the Pond…
American productions of the opera have also featured celebrity performers. Performing the role at Washing National Opera in 2016, Supreme Court Justic Ruth Bader Ginsburg added some legalese of her own to the script. Other incumbents of the role include at the Metropolitan Opera include the Golden Girls star Bea Arthur (in 1994), film icon Kathleen Turner (2019), and, most recently, Killing Eve and Grey’s Anatomy star Sandra Oh (2025).