French mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes studied at the Sorbonne and the Conservatoire de Paris before her operatic debut in 2007, but her tender lyricism possesses a measured calmness that can't be taught. Understandably, her French songs and arias are exquisite: She handles Fauré's “La lune blanche luit dans les bois” with shimmering ease, her warm voice sailing over strings with pure elegance. Her true calling, however, is the Baroque. Her Rameau is rhythmically engaging and emotionally dynamic in all the right ways; her Handel is sublime, its consonance and dissonance moving through her as she maintains ultimate poise.