CRITIC' PICKS: ART, MUSIC, FILM, TELEVISION.

Byline: Reed Johnson, David Kronke, Marla Matzer Rose, Fred Shuster, Bob Strauss

AN ARIA FROM ``THE SOPRANOS'': When just about everyone on the planet - except, inexplicably, the Emmy people - calls your show the best on TV your first season out, that tends to put no small amount of pressure on your second season. So if ``The Sopranos,'' which returns at 9 p.m. Sunday on HBO, doesn't hit those high notes quite so cleanly its first episode back, the main reason is that the original shock of finding something so utterly inspired on television is gone, replaced by an expectation for routine brilliance. But don't worry - the devilish ingeniousness is fully in place with a vengeance by episodes two and three.

Sunday's episode sort of brings us up to speed with what Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his families, domestic and otherwise, have been up to. Tony and Christopher (Michael Imperioli) have cooked up a new stock scam bogged down by the predictable hindrances, a missing associate resurfaces, and Tony's sister - Janice (Aida Turturro), whose New Age moniker du jour is Parvotti - shows up to make trouble of a yet undetermined nature.

How diabolical is Janice? Let's put it this way. Tony's mother, the impossibly sinister Livia (Nancy Marchand), is worried. The cast, as usual, is impeccable. ``The Sopranos'' is that rare show that puts a smile on your face - even if you're wincing - thanks to its sheer commitment to quality and invention.

- David Kronke

FILM

AND MORE OF THE ITALIANS: Didn't get around to that Italian vacation last summer? No loss; just go see ``The Talented Mr. Ripley.'' It's like the grand tour of Italy with a sociopath for your guide. But don't let that bother you; he's a really nice one.

Matt Damon plays Patricia Highsmith's chameleonlike, social-climbing killer with just enough vulnerability and conscience to get you, however reluctantly, rooting for him. He is, after all, a poor but clever lad who's fundamentally more likable than the rich, spoiled expatriates who take him in - then callously turn their backs.

Damon's astonishingly agile performance is supported by cream of the crop co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman; the atmospherically acute direction of ``The English Patient's'' Anthony Minghella, lots of smokin' '50s jazz; and, of course, Italian scenery to die for ... which many in this superb period thriller do.

-Bob Strauss

MUSIC

ALVIN'S A BLAST: Since forming the lauded roots-rock band the Blasters with his brother Phil in 1979, Dave Alvin has honed his skills as a songwriter, musician and singer. His 1987 solo debut, ``Romeo's Escape,'' included such gems as the anthemic ``Fourth of July'' (covered by X, of which Alvin was a member in the '80s). And the albums ``Blue Blvd.,'' ``Museum of Heart'' and ``King of California'' were equally well-received. Alvin appears in a solo date Saturday at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena. Singer-songwriter Tom Russell opens.

Along with his busy performing career, Alvin has found time to produce albums by Big Sandy & his Fly-Rite Boys, the Derailers, Billy Bacon and the Forbidden Pigs, and Katy Moffatt. With longtime pal Russell, the Downey-born Alvin also produced the landmark ``Tulare Dust: A Songwriters' Tribute to Merle Haggard.'' But the gruff-voiced, steel-string poet's most rewarding work may be his 1998 album, ``Blackjack David,'' a gorgeous collection of often moving originals.

The Neighborhood Church is at 301 N. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena. Tickets are $17 and show time is 8 p.m. Information: [phone].

- Fred Shuster

SMOOTHLY SERGIO: Let the sophisticates in their black Gucci-wear flock to hear Tom Ze and those other avatars of Brazilian avant-garde pop. You're the type who's still scratching up the old vinyl LPs, remembering the days before David Byrne started poking around in the Amazon and bossa nova's future seemed to lie in the caffeinated rhythms and Teflon-smooth vocal deliveries of Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. In the late '60s, the jet-set-chic group scored three Top 20 pop hits with glistening renditions of ``The Look of Love,'' ``The Fool on the Hill'' and ``Scarborough Fair,'' featuring vocalists Karen Phillips and Lani Hall.

Don't be surprised if Mendes breaks out the oldies and mixes them with some Bahian hip-hop when he performs at 8 p.m. tonight at Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre. Do be surprised if Mendes doesn't find a way to work ``Mas Que Nada'' into the evening. Tickets for the concert, which benefits the non-profit Calmont School in Topanga, are $40 to $100. Call [phone].

- Reed Johnson

ART

TALKING TRASH: Don't look now, but that embarrassing junkheap you've been driving around town is a work of art. Or it could be, if you'd adopt the whimsical perspective and folk-art methodology found in ``Muffler Men, Munecos and Other Welded Wonders,'' the exhibition of recyclable beings on view through March 26 at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History.

Making liberal use of spare parts and spare time, the artists in this show turn broken catalytic converters, discarded wheel rims, old mufflers and other industrial jetsam into sculptures that draw upon pop culture, mythology and folklore to create eye-catching icons.

Not surprisingly, many of the entries in this metallic menagerie are native to Southern California, the world's automotive mecca. The museum, located on the UCLA campus just west of Royce Hall, is open noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Admission is free; on-campus parking is $5. Call [phone].

- Reed Johnson

CLASSICAL

ALL ANGELICA: Vivaldi fans will have three chances this weekend to hear the composer's greatest hit, ``The Four Seasons,'' performed by the Los Angeles-based period-instrument ensemble Musica Angelica. Frequent Angelica guest performer Elizabeth Blumenstock, concertmaster of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, is featured as violin soloist.

Also on the all-Vivaldi program are the Soprano Recorder Concerto in G and Alto Recorder Concerto in G, both featuring Judith Linsenberg, and the cantata ``Cessate, omai cessate'' performed by countertenor Jason Snyder. The concert is the first in the group's eighth season. Also on the schedule are four more performances each in Pasadena and Santa Monica; they include an all J.S. Bach concert commemorating the 250th anniversary of the composer's death, and a program devoted to several women composers of 17th-century Italy.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, All Saints Church, 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills; 8 p.m. Saturday, Holliston Church, 1305 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena; and 4 p.m. Sunday, First Presbyterian Church, 1220 Second St., Santa Monica. Tickets ($25 each; discounts available for three- or five-concert series) available by calling [phone].

- Marla Matzer Rose

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo: (1) ``The Sopranos'' returns at 9 p.m. Sunday on HBO.

(2) Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow in ``The Talented Mr. Ripley.''

(3) ALVIN

(4) ``Vacuum Cleaner Robot Woman''

(5) ``Black Dog With White Spots''

(6) MENDES