Historical Background of the Nights

Here is a recent (April 2011) lecture I just chanced upon while procrastinating online, it is by John Curry from the University of Nevada Reno and is on teaching the 1001 Nights, though it is largely a historical background of the end of the Sasanid Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad.

I tried to save the audio to my computer but haven't figured out how to yet. As for now the lecture is up on the digital commons page at UNLV:

http://digitalcommons.library.unlv.edu/english_lectures_events/11/

arabian nights in new jersey

This Feb 25-27 the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is hosting an event they call Arabian Nights featuring performances of Nielsen's Aladdin Suite, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, and Behzad Ranjbaran's Seemorgh. 

From their website:   http://www.njsymphony.org/10_11calendar/February.htm#nights

"ARABIAN NIGHTS
Nights of adventure and intrigue await as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and Nielsen’s Aladdin Suite weave a spell with vivid orchestral color. Ranjbaran’s exciting music, based on an 11th-century Persian epic poem, fuses ancient and modern sounds."

Here's a commercial for the event, interesting to note that the conductor says "Arabian Nights is such an enchanting phrase, one that captures Persian stories and exotic music."