Anton Rubinstein's Ballad reflects the virtuosic yet sentimental style characteristic of the Russian Romantic school. It features sweeping, song-like melodies that demand a sophisticated sense of tonal color and expressive rubato.
The primary challenge is maintaining a long, singing line while navigating dense, idiomatic Romantic textures.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballad is rated Henle level 6 of 9 — advanced repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 7–8. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 8.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 6 — meaning you can already play level 5–6 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of Ballad lasts about 5 minutes.
Ballad is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include Allegro Appassionato by Anton Rubinstein, Barcarole No.3; Op.50 No.3 by Anton Rubinstein, Ballade by Amy Marcy Beach — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.