My head must have been up my bottom when I started listening to this - which was in the car. I could have sworn it was sung by no one I knew. Typing in the cast just now gave me a shock. Not know Samuel Ramey or Kathleen Battle?! At the top of the list?! I must be losing my mind!
Anyway, I kept looking at the cast list again and again as I listened ... in the car where my attention was continually diverted. And I was saying to myself, "This mezzo sounds like Marilyn Horne! Amazing!" I looked again. The more I listened, the more amazed I was. I was anxious to listen to "La Cenerentola" to see if any mezzos or contraltos had distinctive voices. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, I looked at the box again. Ah. It is Marilyn Horne. That explains everything.
The story, certainly not PC, is just silliness. The Bey of Algiers is tired of his wife and wants Isabella, the titular Italian to replace her. Isabella and her two compatriots (both captives and suitors, but one her own true love) convince the Bey that in order to win her love, he has to join a select group called the "pappatazzi" - the doofuses. He has to eat and drink and ignore everything else going on around him. The Bey throws himself heartily into the role and everyone runs away. Haha, silly Bey. Plotwise, I like "Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail" better. The Pasha in that is treated somewhat more sympathetically. And, besides, that's Mozart. ( )