Franz Liszt's Ballade No. 1 is a grand, poetic work that showcases his mastery of thematic transformation. Its structure builds from a melancholic beginning to a powerful, virtuosic climax.
The primary challenge is maintaining a cohesive, narrative arc through the contrasting episodic sections.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade No.1 (S.170) is rated Henle level 8 of 9 — concert repertoire, roughly diploma level. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 10.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 8 — meaning you can already play level 7–8 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 (S.170) lasts about 7 minutes.
Ballade No.1 (S.170) 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.1 by Franz Liszt, Ballade aus Der fliegende Holländer, Wagner by Franz Liszt, Bénédiction et serment, 2 motifs de Benvenuto Cellini de Hector Berlioz by Franz Liszt — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.