I think the view here Mark is that we should all be grateful that money was found to 'restore' the instrument. There isn't much interest really in the Organ here, or Organ music in general for that matter, so really the 'tone set' so far is that we should all 'be grateful' for what's been done.
I think when societies or cultures fall short of doing something, (and this can be anything), it really is a very interesting insight into the fabric of that culture. I'm not a psychologist, or sociologist for that matter, but this particular attitude to the display pipes (i.e. if cleaned or polished would 'detract' the audience when listening to other events etc), is a very interesting insight into the workings of the British musical/cultural 'intelligentsia'. Where you find energy and vision, say, in the majority of other countries (not only the 'New World' like Australia or the States, but Continental Europe as well), there would be no problem in restoring the case and pipes in full, I am sure. But in Britain there is a 'stifling conservatism' that runs through many aspects of our cultural activities, particularly the 'Organ World.' It really does seem to collect a very strange collection of people, many with the outllook of a Britain before 1939, a world long since gone. Hence I believe the strange attitude to the display pipes. It represents a great example of the attitude of mind of 'falling short of doing the job properly', of refusing to 'go the extra mile', a sort of introverted process where you are deliberately 'shooting yourself in the foot' for the sake of it. This runs through, with varying degrees, the entire fabric of the so-called cultural 'intelligentsia' of British society.
If we keep the Royal Albert Hall organ within this discussion, we could go further and argue further points regarding the 'restoration', over and above the display pipes. I think Mander Organs have done a great job in this refurbishment, and given the scale of the project have done a tremendous job in delivering the completed project within the Terms and Conditions set. But I would argue that the original Terms and Conditions are, again, an interesting insight into the inate 'conservatism' of the British 'intelligentsia'. I think a great opportunity was lost when it was decided to restore the instrument 'as is', without any reference to the underlying tonal imbalances of the instrument, due in main not only to problems with the acoustics of the Hall, but also due to previous rebuilds of the instrument, conducted with the aim to overcome this 'imbalance.' The main premise of course of the original Terms and Conditions was 'preservation' of the existing instrument, not a bad idea as such, but only if an instrument is worth preserving, given that it should have a unique balance of ensemble actually worth preserving in the first place! Interestingly enough, buried within this framework of 'preservation', room was found to add a IV Fourniture to the Great. Further still, some of the octave couplers were deleted! But if you listen to the organ today, it certainly sounds superb, but only up to a certain level of fortissimo. Once you enter into the realms of the grand tutti do you realise that the shortcomings of the instrument reveal themselves. The Pedal is now in a state of 'imbalance' with the manual plein jeu and reeds, and going further from this is now virtually obliterated in the ff statements. Such is the wisdom of restoring an instrument 'extant' when additions /alterations have been made over time, particularly with reference to poor acoustics and a constantly inadequate wind! Strange indeed that the obvious inadequate scaling of the 32' Reed was not addressed?
The result is a very good organ, but one which falls short of greatness. Given the scale of the work undertaken, the project cost of 1.75Million seems like a bargain to me. But I wonder what would have happened if cost was not the main consideration? And if the 'inate conservatism' of the 'British Organ Intelligentsia' was not prevalent? We will never know.