WORTH NOTING ON TV
* WEDNESDAY
Live From Lincoln Center -- New York Philharmonic: Kurt Masur and Sarah Chang (PBS, 8-10 p.m., EDT): At age 14, Sarah Chang is not only a brilliant violinist but also an old pro, having debuted with the New York Philharmonic at age 8 -- with two days' notice.
Since then she has soloed with some of the best orchestras in the world, among them the Philadelphia Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
In this concert -- hosted by Hugh Downs and simulcast on radio in many areas (please check local listings) -- she performs the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor, with the Philharmonic under the baton of music director Kurt Masur. He also conducts the Mahler Symphony No. 1 in D Major.
A new, three-part edition of ''Backstage/Lincoln Center,'' hosted by Sherrill Milnes, the Met's veteran star, airs along with the concert. Part 1, broadcast before the concert begins, asks ''How Can Someone So Young Play So Well?'' and tries to supply an answer through music footage and interviews with Chang and others.
During intermission, the other two segments -- ''The Nature of Mahler'' and ''It's Your Funeral, Mr. Mahler'' -- look at the composer's career and the sources of his inspiration.
The Face on the Milk Carton (CBS, 9-11 p.m.): A 16-year-old girl glances at the face of a little girl on a milk carton -- the kind of image many people have gotten so used to that it hardly registers any more. This time something's different: Janie recognizes the picture as herself at age 3, a discovery aided by flashbacks and other partially suppressed memories.
Janie's efforts to track down the people in her background -- to find herself, in effect -- is the basis for this drama by Nancy Isaak, based on Caroline B. Cooney's award-winning novels ''The Face on the Milk Carton'' and ''Whatever Happened to Janie?''
Kellie Martin plays Janie in a cast that also stars Jill Clayburgh, Edward Herrmann, Sharon Lawrence, and Richard Masur.
Please check local listings for these programs.
