I assume you meant lighttable, not Lightroom.
Unless you modify preferences → lighttable → use raw file instead of embedded JPEG from size to something other than never, darktable will use your camera’s embedded preview image in the lighttable – until you open the image in darkroom, even if you just keep the defaults there. This is the reason why initially they look contrasty and saturated: you see not the raw file, but your camera’s default processing.
velvia is no longer recommended, I’m afraid. You may want to try color balance rgb.
See PIXLS.US - Darktable 3:RGB or Lab? Which Modules? Help! (even though that article is quite old now).
Another old but potentially useful post: darktable 3.0 for dummies (in 3 modules) (you’d use filmic rgb instead of filmic, and color balance rgb instead of color balance, the rest is the same).