March 1, 1985

The dollar scored a modest recovery yesterday after two days in which it fell precipitously. Despite limited intervention by the the Bundesbank, the West German central bank, the dollar rose slowly and steadily because of considerable demand at its lower levels. After several days in which traders said that they had no idea what would happen next, a consensus seemed to be forming that the dollar would continue to rise. Traders were reassured that the dollar's fall this week had been checked by renewed demand at lower exchange rates, and that it rose yesterday notwithstanding the announcement of a large trade deficit in January.

THAT Henri Matisse was one of the most seductive draftsmen who ever lived is well known to anyone who patrols the auction houses and the dealers' galleries. Rarely have drawings been more instantly approachable than the kind of Matisse that turns up for sale here, there and everywhere. Those drawings have, as he himself wished them to have, ''the lightness and joyousness of a springtime that never lets anyone suspect how much hard work has gone into it.'' The pretty young women, dressed or undressed, the Mediterranean fruit fresh from the tree, the flowers that we never get to buy in the stores - all these were rendered by Matisse with a sovereign dexterity that makes them among the most immediately covetable of European drawings.

A $488 million rebuilding plan for Mount Sinai Medical Center that includes a new 633-bed hospital wing and a large new emergency room was approved by the state yesterday. The approval, in a unanimous vote by the New York State Hospital Review and Planning Council, came after four years of tough negotiations with state and local health planners who had opposed Mount Sinai's initial plan. They ultimately persuaded the hospital to agree to a less expensive renovation and to accept a larger role in meeting the basic health needs of the Upper East Side's poor, predominantly black and Hispanic communities. According to state health officials, the plan that was approved reflected Governor Cuomo's determination to force New York City's major teaching hospitals and medical centers to assume direct responsibility for the health care of their surrounding neighborhoods and to insure that any new construction fulfilled regional needs.

District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau of Manhattan said yesterday that he was considering asking a new grand jury to decide whether to indict Bernhard H. Goetz on charges of attempted murder in the shooting of four young men on a subway train. In January, a grand jury indicted Mr. Goetz only for illegal weapons possession, although prosecutors had said there were legal grounds for charges of attempted murder. That grand jury's term has since expired. ''We have been considering re- presenting from the day the indictment was voted,'' Mr. Morgenthau said yesterday in a telephone interview. ''But just because a prosecutor is not happy over a grand jury action is not a basis for re-presenting. We're not interested in tilting at windmills. I've got to have a substantial basis for doing it.''

CABARET has had its ups and downs in New York over the years. But recently, as the price of Broadway shows has soared and disco fever cooled, a wider audience has begun seeking the alternative of nightclub entertainment. Activity has become so busy and diverse that many are calling the mid-80's a ''golden age'' of cabaret, comparable to the period just after World War II. Comedy is flourishing as never before, with stand-up comedy and ensemble improvisation booming in more than a dozen clubs. The revue, which seemed dormant just a few years ago, has made a striking comeback. Jazz is thriving, and folk music is building a new, young grass-roots audience. Estimates of the number of piano bars in Manhattan now exceed 100. Recognizing all this ferment, Mayor Koch has proclaimed March Cabaret Month. In ceremonies marking the occasion Monday at the Ballroom - sponsored by Remy Martin and presented by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets, a group of 14 local clubs - Cab Calloway, Barbara Cook, and Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara were honored with lifetime achievement awards.