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The story framing “One Thousand and One Nights” presents a sultan scarred by the unfaithfulness of his sultana. To guarantee their fidelity, he has had each of his subsequent wives executed on the day following their nuptials. The most recent in the line, Scheherazade, must use her wits to prolong her life and win the sultan’s love.

If I were the sultan, she would have nothing to fear. I never get tired of listening to “Scheherazade.” Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s oft-performed symphonic poem will bring Sinfonietta Nova’s 2013-2014 season to a colorful close. The program will open with another “Arabian Nights” inspiration, Carl Maria von Weber’s overture to the one-act farce, “Abu Hassan.”

In between, soprano Lauren Athey-Janka will sing the “Song to the Moon,” from Antonín Dvořák’s “Rusalka.” Rusalka is a water spirit from Slavic mythology, whose tale bears more than a passing resemblance to Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”

The program will also include a concerto for that unlikeliest of lyric instruments, the tuba, by an 82 year-old Ralph Vaughan Williams. Scott Mendoker will be the soloist.

Scheherazade’s fascination is a tribute to the power of creative storytelling. Tonight’s performance will feature spoken narration, adapted from “One Thousand and One Nights” by Alton Thompson. The storyteller will be musician and former WWFM radio personality Bliss Michelson.

The program will conclude Sinfonietta Nova’s “fairy tale” season. Music director Gail Lee will conduct.

The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m., at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 177 Princeton-Hightstown Rd., West Windsor, NJ (some sources indicate Princeton Junction).

Tickets and information are available at sinfoniettanova.org, or at 609-785-1812.