Bortkiewicz's Ballade is a deeply romantic work showing the influence of Liszt and Rachmaninoff. It is defined by its wide, lush textures, rich harmonic language, and intense emotional peaks.
The primary challenge is the management of wide-span chords while maintaining a beautiful, singing tone.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade (Op.42) is rated Henle level 7 of 9 — late advanced repertoire, roughly ABRSM grade 8 and above. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 10.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 7 — meaning you can already play level 6–7 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 (Op.42) lasts about 8 minutes.
Ballade (Op.42) 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 by Sergei Eduardovich Bortkiewicz, Cammino Funebre No.1 in B-flat minor by Marco Anzoletti, Ballade No.1 by Frederic Chopin — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.