I would have like to have seen more of what happened (and what the makers did) between 1st rehearsal (when the stuff was all pretty rough) and the dress rehearsal (when it passed that dreadful impresario bloke).

Was interesting - the brass and woodwind were fairly easy to replicate as they're plumbing anyway (there are makers who still use cutlery for keys / springs), and the designs are C19 in the first place. Yes, the reeds could (should?) have been made of something else. Thin sheet plastic or card might have worked.

The violin maker had such trouble because, as was pointed out - the design is C17 or earlier, and its been all downhill from there. And he is obviously a perfectionist type. Not surprising he wasn't getting enough volume,that's how old violins were.

1812 was asking an awful lot, the late C19 music demanded about the most volume an orchestra ever has.

A fair bit must have been down to the skill of the players - they knew how to get the best out of an instrument. With barely competent players the sound would have been much, much worse. No let's rephrase that - the programme only worked at all because top class players agreed to be involved.

Paws