I tried the Norton Anthology of Western Music, but fell down a rabbit hole and found myself up at 2 a.m. watching a YouTube video of some guy singing in Ancient Greek while accompanying himself on a lyre he made from animal horns and genius. I had to bring Norton back to the library and try something else, because I want piano-focused rabbit holes, and I'll never make it through Norton without a teacher demanding I focus on what's going to be on the test.
The library was able to get me a book from the Peabody Institute called the Great Pianists by Harold Schonberg, and after reading the first page I shouted Eureka, because I think it's what I've been looking for:
Contents:
I'm thinking about also asking the library to scare up a copy of "Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire" (https://a.co/d/061mb482) I can use as a fun checklist. In a review I found online, some dude says he's been using it like that for three years, and that sounds like an interesting project. It's kind of like looking at the San Pellegrino list of 50 best restaurants in the world, of which I have been to ... sadly, none! That's why I read so much. Vicarious thrills!
So I'm going to see if this book is the piano literature dot-to-dot I'm looking for! I'm thinking about making a big YouTube playlist of what I find.