Not long ago, in the revival of a centuries-old and thoroughly forgotten Neapolitan farce at La Scala, the frisky countertenor Raffaele Pe caught our eye with his nimble capers and our ear with his 24-karat vocalism. How will his talents serve the demands of Handel’s wily, ironic Julius Caesar? We can’t wait to find out. Marie Lys sings the scintillating Serpent of the Nile. The Baroque specialist Ottavio Dantone conducts from the harpsichord. Chiara Muti, daughter of Maestro Riccardo, directs. What better excuse to poke around Piacenza, a compact Renaissance gem of a town that the common run of tourists ignore? —Matthew Gurewitsch