Renée Fleming Was Back Onstage. Here’s What Happened First.

To pull together a 85-minute indoor concert at the Shed with the opera star and three musicians, everything had to go according to plan.

The soprano Renée Fleming sauntered onstage in a shimmering long-sleeve gown, perched on a chair and started to sing. For a renowned performer decades into her career, it might have been an uneventful Wednesday evening at the Shed, the expansive performance space in Hudson Yards. But after 13 months in a pandemic, a sea of faces was a novel sight for the opera star and the trio accompanying her. “Wow, applause!” she remarked after finishing the meditative opening number. “Very exciting.”