Hi wolfi,
Thanks for the compliment and encouragement! You probably recall that I have very little practice time, so rarely do I undertake a piece of this magnitude (10 pages) and level of virtuosity! It's generally more practical for me to stick to character pieces or other miniatures where I can bring them to a very good performance level with limited but efficient practice. In this instance I was really taken with Koji Attwood's incredible and breath-taking performance of "Eros". Athough I have a much more modest technique, I can accomplish a lot, no matter the difficulty, if a piece really inspires me. This one does tremendously.
On your points:
First, you're quite right. The first page is at p; however, it is also contour dynamics-- crescendos on the rise of a phrases and diminuendos tapering off those phrases. I started off with the soft pedal as well as an assist. I'll try to quiet that page down even more. The key is to execute those "swells" so they're discernable, but still within a narrower dynamic range so as not to get out of bounds. More generally, I totally agree with your point about holding back some reserve strength. In fact, I introduce some quiet at times even though the composer doesn't mark it as such in the score. That enables me to avoid too much mono-dynamic effect by dropping back and rebuilding excitement in a tactical way.
Also, I like your idea to make the lyrical part more delicatissimo. Most of it is p to pp. I do bring out a lot of nuances there, I believe. In the adventure, this evokes a bit of a tease.
Darn, I knew you'd catch the page turns! And yes, they come at bad moments and disturb my concentration every time. I recovered quickly each time, but had to do damage control which was then doubly distracting. Unfortunately, I can't memorize anymore, but your idea on copying the pages to lay them along the music desk is a good one. Then I merely have to be the "artist" (

) and sound engineer, and I can then fire the page turner.

On the ending, I'll work at more of "barn burner" there. Basically you're dealing with "flying" chords and octaves in that bravura section, one of Bortkiewicz's mini-etudes--not an easy task. Calls for a flexible wrist for rapid vertical motion.
Clearly, I'm still toiling in the fields of this piece, but it's well worth it! Once I'm more comfortable and secure with it, I'll repost it in the future, then everyone can hear the "before and after".
I think that occassionally some of the members here expect me to post a difficult piece, despite my amateur duffer status in the forum, so this is the one I'm presenting this time around.
Thanks so much, wolfi, for taking time to listen and critque!