Dovicchi's writing reflects the intensity and technical demands of the late 19th-century virtuoso school. The composition makes significant use of chordal power and sweeping register changes to build tension.
Pay close attention to physical relaxation when executing the wide-span chords and octave passages.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade No.1 (Op.57) 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 Ballade No.1 (Op.57) lasts about 7 minutes.
Ballade No.1 (Op.57) 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 Ballade No.2 by João Cândido Dovicchi, Variations sérieuses by Felix Mendelssohn, Ballade by César Franck — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.