Critics' Voices: Mar. 11, 1991

TELEVISION

ANYTHING BUT LOVE (ABC, March 6, 9:30 p.m. EST). Hannah and Marty (Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Lewis) finally end the will-they-or-won't-they tension and spend a night together. It's a welcome new turn for TV's smartest relationship comedy.

YEARBOOK (Fox, debuting March 7, 8:30 p.m. EST). Cameras follow the lives of real students at Glenbard West High School, eavesdropping on everything from math classes to private boy-girl moments. One video-verite show too many from the Fox network.

THE FRED ASTAIRE SONGBOOK (PBS, March 8, 9 p.m. on most stations). His singing was as heavenly as his dancing, as this wonderful tribute shows.

ART

BLACK ART: ANCESTRAL LEGACY, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. An exhibition of 156 sculptures, paintings and other works by 49 20th century African-American and Caribbean artists who examine, explore and celebrate their heritage through the interpretation of ancient secular and spiritual motifs. Through March 24.

EASTMAN JOHNSON: THE CRANBERRY HARVEST, National Academy of Design, New York City. This small show focuses on the studies and early paintings that culminated in Johnson's famed, and newly restored, work depicting Nantucket berry pickers. Through March 24.

MUSIC

. KITCHENS OF DISTINCTION: STRANGE FREE WORLD A&M). A band of genially berserk Brits, turning out tunes with wit and -- hard to believe in this dance-mad age -- melody. With echoes of mid-period Beatles and backlash art-rock, this is pop with heart and promise.

MARCUS ROBERTS: ALONE WITH THREE GIANTS (Novus/RCA). How old do you have to be to take on a giant? David was a mere slip when he brought down Goliath, but jazz pianist Marcus Roberts, 27, isn't interested in confrontation. He's paying tribute to Ellington, Monk and Morton, re-interpreting them in a way that's full of warmth, empathy and musical surprise.

EVGENY KISSIN: CARNEGIE HALL DEBUT CONCERT (RCA Red Seal). From his daringly slow opening statement of Schumann's Symphonic Etudes, and throughout this recital of challenging works by Liszt, Chopin and Prokofiev, the Soviet prodigy, now 19, shows a potential for future greatness, with a command of tone, dynamics and phrasing that is always at the service of musical ends.

MOVIES

L.A. STORY. Steve Martin's Annie Hall: that's one way to describe this blithe, witty take on the most American of cities. Martin, who wrote the film, stars as a TV weatherman with a head for romance and a hard time finding it. Victoria Tennant, Marilu Henner and Sarah Jessica Parker offer the feminine options, and Brit TV maven Mick Jackson supplies the directorial dazzle. But this is a very personal Martin project -- the sweet-souled, nonstop-funny testament of a native Angeleno. Sly and soulful, it's the comedy that dares to be dippy.

1900. In 1976 Bernardo Bertolucci assembled an all-star cast (Robert De Niro, Gerard Depardieu, Burt Lancaster, Stefania Sandrelli) for a history of 20th century Italy that played like a Marxist Gone With the Wind. Now the full version -- all 5 hr. 11 min. -- is premiering in the U.S. Don't miss the grandest folly of a great director.

ETCETERA