Theodore Akimenko's Ballade is a charming, largely forgotten work that demonstrates a lyrical, impressionistic influence atop a Romantic structural base. It is distinguished by its understated, delicate harmonic language and gentle melodic contour.
The main challenge is maintaining a consistent, delicate sound quality throughout the shifting, chromatic harmonies.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 7.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 5 — meaning you can already play level 4–5 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 Ballade lasts about 4 minutes.
Ballade 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 Au Coin de Feu by Theodore Akimenko, Berceuse by Theodore Akimenko, By the Fireside by Theodore Akimenko — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.