Thanks to Brian Smith for the link to the video of De Arabier.
It sounds great -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh_FMaBBEEM 

My question is this:  Why does the conductor figure at the center beat
his baton down on the off-beat?  The beating seems to be controlled by
the music sheet since it never changes from the off-beat.  Could there
be some 180 degree phase shift mistakenly introduced or needing to be
introduced?

David Sharpe
Western Massachusetts, USA